Introduction

Engagement to provide a multi-disciplinary review of studies to date on a nickel-copper-cobalt resource to identify the design major value drivers to focus further development efforts.

Mandate

Palaris were engaged initially by the Client to undertake a bridging study to identify the most likely basis of design for a nickel-copper-cobalt resource in Canada. The project including historic mining and processing operations. The study was to review all historical work and the various design options previously proposed by other parties, to highlight opportunities to optimise project value. The review was to cover the four main areas of geology, mine geotechnical, mining and processing.  

Following completion of the initial bridging study the Client engaged Palaris further to model the design scenarios and assumptions in a value driver tree as a tool for decision making for the forward work program. 

Approach

For the bridging study Palaris provided its own technical team including one of its in-house financial analysts. Each discipline review fed back into an overall project analysis workshop to highlight inter-disciplinary opportunities and their relevant costs to implement. Qualitive ranking was undertaken form the teams experience to prioritise the forward work recommendations to the Client.  

On the back of the bridging study Palaris suggested a quantitative prioritisation of opportunities be undertaken via a value driver tree which was accepted. On the value driver tree Palaris began by process mapping the whole of operation view. Cost, productivity and time-based inputs were then developed for each process step.  

Outcome

The outcome was a working spread sheet model that allowed the whole of the project processes to be visually inspected and the working mathematical model related to the process. This allowed flexing of the project options to assess the rate of positive or negative impact on the projects financial outcome.