INTEX RESOURCES - The International Resource Journal

MAY 2012 The International Resource Journal
7
“The trick is the acid plant will generate not
only all the acid and steam we need for bringing
fluids around in the processing plant, but also
provides all the electricity we need, including
what is required to transport the ore from the
mine to the plant near the coast, and all carbon
free and ndependent on fossil fuels, and this is
significant because you can imagine – six-million
tonnes for the full-sized plant or two-million
tonnes for the small – trucks for this transport
would eat a lot of diesel. We don’t have to buy
diesel for this because we will transport the ore
via cable conveyors from the mine site to the
plant site,” Petersen says.
Match-making
Intex Resources is now looking for partners to
build a consortium that can provide the project
with engineering and operational experience. “A
competent EPC contractor can make a significant
difference on the project. In addition to engineering
and operational experience, we are also looking for
partners, who are interested in off-take or end-use
of the products and are interested in taking part
in making this exciting project happen,” Petersen
says. The consortium is also looking for bringing in
a major Philippine industrial partner.
Intex Resources has recently signed an MOU
with MCC8, a major metallurgical construction
group in China, to establish a consortium for
Mindoro Nickel. MCC8 used to be the main nickel
company in the country, but Jinchuan, now Chinas
largest nickel company, was spun out and
MCC8 remained the engineering arm for the nickel
industry, but also developed new directions.
“MCC8 is one of those examples of a
partner that might not seem the most obvious,
being primarily an engineering group, but they
have started getting involved in green projects
worldwide, with clean technology and watercleaning
projects in Africa and elsewhere, and
this is very appealing. Here is a Chinese company
that wants to show that things can be done
green and are just as excited about the potential
of a “green” carbon-neutral mining project as we
are,” Petersen says.
If a proper consortium can be brought together
to help realise the Mindoro project, Intex Resources
is prepared to offer 90-per-cent share to
the consortium. “We are first and foremost mine
developers, not mine operators, so we would like
to see this project happen, so we can find and
develop the next big project – this is what we do
best,” he adds.
The company’s next big project could well be
a significant molybdenum deposit in Norway, but
Petersen does not want to get ahead of himself.
If a Mindoro consortium can be established