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NextSource Materials Announces Preliminary Economic Assessment for a Mine Expansion of 150,000 Tonnes per Annum of SuperFlake(R) Graphite Concentrate
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2022 / NextSource Materials Inc. (TSX:NEXT) (OTCQB:N...
About this update from Nextsource Materials Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"NextSource Materials Announces Preliminary Economic Assessment for a Mine Expansion of 150,000 Tonnes per Annum of SuperFlake(R) Graphite ConcentrateTORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2022 / NextSource Materials Inc. (TSX:NEXT) (OTCQB:NSRCF) (\"NextSource\" or \"the Company\") is pleased to announce the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (\"PEA\") for an enhanced Phase 2 expansion of its 100%-owned Molo Graphite Mine Project in southern Madagascar.The PEA considered an enhanced Phase 2 expansion consisting of a stand-alone processing plant with a production capacity of 150,000 tonnes per annum (\"tpa\") of flake graphite concentrate over a 26-year life of mine (\"LOM\"). The PEA projects that the capital costs to construct 150,000 tpa of processing capacity would be US$155.8 million with a pre-tax NPV utilizing an 8% discount rate of US$929.6 million and a pre-tax IRR of 41.1%.The PEA assumed the Phase 2 processing plant will be built adjacent to the 17,000 tpa Phase 1 processing plant, currently under construction.Craig Scherba, P.Geo., President and CEO of NextSource commented,\"We are very pleased the PEA defines the strong financial returns of a larger scale operation and significant scalability of our project as market demand for flake graphite for use in electric vehicle batteries is rising. A Phase 2 expansion of this magnitude will position NextSource as a major global supplier and will underpin our vertical integration strategy to construct our own battery anode facility in due course, enabling direct supply to the electric vehicle battery market.\"The PEA was prepared by Erudite Strategies Ltd. (\"Erudite\") of South Africa, an independent engineering and consulting firm specializing in the mining and processing of commodities and battery materials.The Company cautions that the PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.PEA RESULTS SUMMARYThe following summary highlights the financial metrics provided in the PEA:DescriptionPreliminary Economic Assessment(150k tpa)Economic Highli...