The board of Western Areas NL (ASX: WSA) today announced the award of a project to upgrade the Cosmic Boy nickel concentrator to GR Engineering Services. The upgrade will result in a doubling of the capacity of the plant to 550,000 tonnes per year to accommodate ore from Spotted Quoll in addition to the expanded production from Flying Fox expected from the March quarter of 2010. The expansion will include installation of secondary and tertiary crushers and the conversion of the existing SAG mill to a ball mill along with additional flotation capacity. Total cost of the plant expansion will be approximately $25M.
Western Areas consider that the decision to expand production from the Forrestania region comes at a time of strong growth in the nickel price and improving market conditions. The mines supplying the upgraded nickel concentrator are expected to be amongst the highest grade nickel mines in Australia. GR Engineering Services successfully completed the design and construction of the original Cosmic Boy nickel concentrator, are proud to continue the association with Western Areas NL and look forward to delivering another successful project.
To view Western Areas company announcement
To read more about the Cosmic Boy Concentrator project, click here.