Highlights
- Critical readiness activities for the EA are focused on three key areas:
- Collaboration with Indigenous communities: Achieved through building of relationships and progression towards establishment of EA agreements with potential participating Indigenous communities. This will include enshrining protocols for collaborative decision-making and consent-based processes with each community.
- Cultural and environmental baseline studies: FPX is committed to an Indigenous-led baseline program, and the Company's ongoing and expanded program will continue to build the comprehensive dataset required for the EA process and engineering studies.
- Engineering studies and feasibility readiness: Through desktop and laboratory programs, the Company will continue to refine key Project elements, readying the project for the EA and feasibility study processes.
"FPX is focused on prioritizing and advancing the key workstreams to successfully enter the EA process, which sits along the critical path for the overall development of the
Collaboration with Indigenous Communities
In 2024, the Company will work to establish EA agreements with all potential participating Indigenous communities. FPX is committed to building relationships with Indigenous communities early and through inclusive processes, to providing resources to enable engagement and collaborative decision-making, to enabling Indigenous communities to advance self-determined goals, and to optimizing long-term sustainable benefits and opportunities connected to the Project.
FPX will continue collaborative Project design in advance of the EA process, building on a series of mine design workshops initiated in 2023. Initial discussions in these workshops have focused on community values and preliminary learnings from Indigenous-led environmental baseline studies and have emphasized the importance of respect and protection of the environment.
A collaborative decision-making process with Indigenous communities is planned in 2024 to determine key aspects of mine design including tailings facility location and powerline routing, in advance of entering the EA process. Agreements with Indigenous communities are a priority for the Company in 2024 as they will be a mechanism to formalize these commitments and initiatives.
Cultural and Environmental Baseline Studies
Cultural and environmental baseline studies have been ongoing for the
FPX is committed to the ongoing execution of an Indigenous-led cultural and environmental baseline program. To achieve this, the Company has prioritized engagement of Indigenous-owned businesses and partnerships, such as
"The environmental consulting group Ecofor and the community of Binche have a long history of working together and in 2022 this was formalized by the establishment of Shas-Ti Environmental, a partnership undertaking the Indigenous-led baseline studies and training of community members for the
Project Design & Engineering
Following completion of the PFS in
Metallurgy
The PFS was robustly supported by an extensive metallurgical testwork program which included extensive bench and multiple pilot-scale testwork programs. The Company has now commenced the feasibility study ("FS") metallurgical program, which is focused on refining select elements of the flowsheet while also completing the typical testwork elements required to support FS detailing.
The FS metallurgical program commenced with pilot-scale testing of the concentrator flowsheet to (a) refine select elements of the Baptiste concentrator flowsheet, and (b) produce sufficient awaruite concentrate to support larger-scale testwork of the downstream refinery flowsheet. The concentrator pilot-scale testwork program is nearing completion, and results along with the confirmed plan for refinery testwork for the production of battery-grade nickel sulphate will be presented in
Other elements of the FS testwork program in 2024 include the types of typical and routine testwork required to support FS detailing, including bulk material handling characterization, solid-liquid separation, comminution variability, briquetting, and flotation tailings leach optimization testwork. Additionally, the Company will evaluate the potential opportunities which were presented in the PFS, such as nickel sulphide flotation and upgrading of a potential iron ore concentrate. The FS testwork program is expected to run through to 2025, and material findings will be sequentially released when completed.
Value Engineering
Building on the technical and commercial viability demonstrated in the PFS, the Company has commenced a value engineering program which looks to further improve project value, and also provide suitable layout and execution certainty ahead of the EA process. To this effect, concurrent value engineering studies are focusing on optimization of the following areas: process plant design, overall site layout, carbon intensity, and linear infrastructure (access road and powerline).
The value engineering exercise has identified several potential improvements to the conceptual Project design; the Company will report the full results of the value engineering program in the second quarter of 2024. Technically and economically feasible alternatives that are identified through value engineering will be further evaluated through collaboration with Indigenous communities, as described above.
Feasibility Study Planning
The Company will also progress scoping and planning for the 2025 field season, which will focus on data collection to support the feasibility study, including geotechnical investigations, continued environmental baseline data collection, and resource drilling.
The
The Baptiste Deposit is located within the
On behalf of
"Martin Turenne"
Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Actual results could differ from those currently projected. The Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
Neither the
SOURCE
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