Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) is advancing on time and on budget with fast-tracking of the manganese concentrate export operation at its Butcherbird project in Western Australia.
Detailed engineering design work identified equipment for integration into the beneficiation plant at the project where the key components have long manufacturing and delivery lead times.
To meet the mine development timeline, the company has placed orders and paid deposits with several suppliers for some items.
"Aggressive delivery timeline"
E25 managing director Justin Brown said: “We have an aggressive delivery timeline for the Butcherbird Project which has us in production in the first quarter of 2021.
“It is pleasing to see these key milestones being met in keeping with that timeline.”
Equipment ordered
The company has placed orders and deposits on the following equipment:
- Crusher and dry screen (Max Plant in Western Australia);
- Log washer (CDE Global Ltd in Northern Ireland);
- Vibrating screens (Vipro in South Africa);
- Ore sorters (Steinert Australia – manufactured in Germany); and
- Motor control centre (Integrated Switch Gear and Systems in Western Australia).
Two ore sorters have been ordered from Steinert Australia and will be manufactured at the Steinert factory in Germany.
Key milestone
This represents a key milestone in the project development strategy which provides certainty on delivery schedules to match the planned start of operations in the first quarter of 2021.
As well as staying on schedule, the placing of orders also provides certainty on pricing with firm quotations (in aggregate) below the budgeted prices detailed in the pre-feasibility study (PFS).
Delivery of these key items is scheduled for mid-December 2020.
The Butcherbird Manganese Project is a world-class manganese resource with current JORC resources in excess of 263 million tonnes of manganese ore