Research Leadership
The mission of Resource Mining Corporation (ASX: RMI) is to create wealth from mineral commodities using innovative technical, marketing and financial skills.
A key to achieving this goal is through research leadership.
The research leadership has a focus on three main areas:
1. Innovative Exploration
Resource Mining Corporation takes an innovative approach to exploration and drilling in both Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG).
Resource Mining Corporation has taken an innovative approach to drilling, employment, transport and logistics in PNG because of the project’s remote mountainous location and a desire to employ local villagers.
The company operates at Wowo Gap 200 kilometers due east of the capital of Port Moresby and because there are no roads, transport is via a day’s walk or by expensive helicopter.
A desire to engage with local landowners in a sustainable way has led to new and innovative solutions to exploring for nickel in this tropical rainforest environment.
One of the innovations has been to use a custom man-portable diamond core drilling rig capable of much faster, higher quality and more cost effective drilling using a largely unskilled local workforce (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Custom man-portable diamond core drilling rig used at Wowo Gap PNG
The idea for an auger-based drill rig actually came from technology being used to dig fence posts in farming.
An internationally operating independent expert in nickel laterite exploration data and modelling has praised the company for its innovative drilling and sampling exploration procedures.
Independent geological consultancy GeoRes completed a due diligence study on mineral exploration procedures being used at the Wowo Gap site.
This innovation and others has been independently verified as being well founded, completely applicable to good exploration of a nickel laterite type deposit and meeting high international standards.
The aim of the due diligence study was to gain an independent third party expert view on the company’s processes to meet international standards and raise more capital to further develop the project.
The Wowo Gap drilling innovations have resulted in three major benefits:
1. Greater control over the drilling process because it is now being done in house rather than by external contractors
2. Major productivity gains and reduced drilling costs. For example external drilling contractors completed 55 holes in 12 months whilst using the new innovation 190 holes were drilled in a five month period.
3. It has also led to a trained and motivated local workforce where local workers have a greater feeling of empowerment and ownership of the project.
In Australia, Resource Mining Corporation’s strategy of expanding its commodity interests across the broader minerals industry is exploration-driven and focused on targets that are likely to produce growth assets.
Innovative sampling techniques are being used for West Australian projects in the Ashburton, Goldfields and Musgrave regions with a focus on gold, copper, nickel and base metal mineralisation.
The company is looking at innovative ways of exploration in conjunction with the CSIRO using water assays in local wells to find markers for elevated gold and copper levels.
Active sampling of vegetation to look at how plant mineral take up may be a marker for increased mineralisation is another research first for the company (Figure 2).
Figure 2: West Australian innovation with surface soil and vegetation sampling by senior field supervisor Stanton Kennedy-Smith
2. Leaching Technology
Resource Mining Corporation is investigating alternatives to traditional high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) technologies which uses sulphuric acid as the leaching agent.
The company aims to investigate what other alternatives exist to find a solution to the unique tropical clay laterite structures that exist at Wowo Gap.
The successful trials have used organic acid to extract nickel and cobalt from both the shallower limonite and deeper saprolite ores and provide a more cost effective alternative to a standard high pressure acid leach process (HPAL).
The results are especially encouraging because it has the potential to change the project economics from a development perspective and be better for the environment.
As a way of background, research conducted by the company in 2007 found the Wowo Gap lower level saprolite ore contained large amounts of magnesium silicate. Under normal HPAL treatment the magnesia in these ores was preferentially consumed by the acid making the inorganic leaching technology uneconomic.
The research confirmed very high concentrations of sulphuric acid must be used to leach the nickel from the saprolite and because sulphuric acid is the major consumable in an HPAL plant, excessive use has a negative impact on project economics if saprolite only was to be processed.
A 2008 Feasibility Study discovered that the HPAL process was economically viable for the shallower but lower grade limonite ores and the system could utilise high magnesia saprolite ore to neutralize the sulphuric acid.
While these results were encouraging, the majority of the higher grade and deeper saprolite ore was unable to be processed and so in 2010 the company looked to science-based innovation using alternative leaching agents to find a solution.
Recent research has been very encouraging and achieved nickel and cobalt metal extractions from the deeper saprolite ores of between 80 and 90 per cent changing the whole financial dynamics of the project.
Importantly, the new technology also allows metal extractions up to 70 per cent for nickel and more than 95 per cent for cobalt in the shallower limonite ores.
Test work to date suggests that this new innovative leaching technology has a number of significant advantages over the traditional HPAL methods including:
1. The organic acid process is able to leach nickel and cobalt from both limonite and saprolite ores,
2. The organic acid is bio-renewable, and is significantly less harmful to the environment and employees when compared to the highly reactive in-organic acids such as sulphuric acid,
3. Test work indicates that leach rates are typically in the order of one hour to achieve maximum metal extraction,
4. The process is not a high pressure acid leach process, which would imply the capital cost of the leach vessels is likely to be significantly less expensive than an HPAL plant,
Future research work will focus on ways to optimize the metal extraction process and assess metal recovery options.
3. Corporate Social Responsibility
The company supports the premise that sustainable development is defined as development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations. This is a key value driver for the business and is especially important in PNG at Wowo Gap with its remote location, poor infrastructure and limited employment opportunities.
Figure 3: Resource Mining Corporation is well respected in local communities and recently staff received a ceremonial welcome because of the company’s commitment to the local community.
Key areas of research leadership within Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) include:
Transport and Supply Logistics:
Resource Mining Corporation operates in a very remote location where transport logistics are very challenging.
It is a 2-hour helicopter flight or seven-day walk.
Innovative transport alternatives via boat transport via sea and river have been investigated with great success.
Figure 4: Transport and logistics supply innovation using local boats.
Two benefits of providing a more cost effective alternative to expensive helicopters and providing local increased employment opportunities have been highlighted.
The company has a buy local procurement policy as part of a commitment to the local villages where we operate. As well as fuel purchases we also aim to purchase local food and vegetables on a weekly basis.
Cassava Farming:
Resource Mining Corporation believes in agriculture partnerships for sustainable development as a way of leaving a legacy in the host countries in which we operate.
Figure 5: Local fencing for cassava farming trials.
We are currently researching ways that cassava farming can provide income opportunities for local communities.
Health and Hygiene:
Resource Mining Corporation is investigating ways to improve health outcomes for local villagers, especially having a healthy workforce and how these healthy habits are transferred back to villages through local health champions.
This includes surveys of major health issues such as malaria and intestinal parasites and research into solutions to these health issues as well as holding local health clinics.
Education and Training:
Resource Mining Corporation is providing research leadership on how it can better supply basic equipment such as pens, pencils, books, writing paper, and sporting goods to local village schools as well as technology such as satellite communications.
Resource Mining Corporation is also committed to providing training and development opportunities for local villages.
With the total lack of infrastructure and development, workers sourced from the local villages welcome the opportunity to learn new skills and Resource Mining Corporation is pioneering new ways to develop the skills of the local workforce
Environment:
Resource Mining Corporation has a strong commitment to the environment.
We are conducting environmental surveys in conjunction with local landowners focussing on:
Tree surveys - to monitor the impact of exploration on the forest environment.
Water and aquatic surveys - to monitor the impact of exploration on the river environment.
Figure 6: Tree survey work at Wowo Gap to minimise damage to the environement.
West Australian Projects
All of this research leadership can be applied to local projects in Australia and dealing with indigenous communities in remote regions of Western Australia.
An example was a field trip to the Musgrave Province and the Tomkinson Range project which is highly prospective for nickel - copper sulphide mineralisation.
Part of the goal of the trip was to meet with the Ngaanyajarra Council. The Council comprises of representatives from the traditional land owners in the area and is the liaison between exploration companies and the local traditional land owners.
The Ngaanyajarra Council believes increased access to the area by exploration companies will create employment, training and other opportunities for their people, particularly their youth.
The company was required to introduce themselves to the Council members and provide an indication of future employment needs.
Resource Mining Corporation presented their employment model used in PNG, which relies on local PNG village people to assist in all aspects of the project from cooking through to drill rig operation.
The model was well received by the Council and this meeting will be the basis of a good working relationship in the future.