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Company Information for European Nickel Plc

Company stock charts - 12 Month chart

Exchange AIM; ENK


View full financial data

Company Statement

European Nickel is a UK registered company which has developed a novel heap leach process for application to the nickel laterites in Turkey and the Balkan Region. The biggest challenge to the development of nickel laterite projects are the capital costs to develop the projects.

Very few nickel laterites (the oxide form of nickel in the earth's crust) can be upgraded, therefore large metallurgical operations need to be built to treat the nickel ores, and this leads to large capital costs and the need for very large deposits to support the capital expenditure. 

The application of heap leaching to nickel laterite processing offers the opportunity to significantly reduce the capital requirements for nickel processing.  However the majority of nickel laterites contain a large percentage of clay minerals, which reduces the permeability of any heap, thus complicating the leaching process.  The Balkan laterites have low clay contents which makes them amenable to heap leaching and this characteristic has now been demonstrated on a large scale by European Nickel at the Çaldağ project in western Turkey.


Current Operations

The Çaldağ mine - Turkey
Key Features
• 100% ownership
• JORC mineable reserve of 255,000t contained nickel
• Nickel production target 20,000tpa
• Life of Mine 20 years

The Çaldağ mine, located in western Turkey, is European Nickel’s first mine and is designed to produce 20,000tpa of nickel and 1,200tpa of cobalt in a mixed hydroxide product that will be sold to BHP Billiton for processing into nickel and cobalt metal.

Open pit mining operations commenced in late 2007 with direct ore shipments.  The company has stockpiled 100,000 tonnes of ore and direct ore shipping (DOS) to Greece and Macedonia is underway while nickel prices remain strong.

The start of full-scale commercial production has been delayed,pending the approval of a key forestry permit by the Turkish Government. In May 2008 European Nickel submitted its application for the forestry permit along with a detailed mine rehabilitation and closure plan for approval. This is expected to take approximately 2 months. However, all the necessary mine infrastructure and 80% of the engineering design work has been completed on schedule and within budget. Once the forestry licence is granted, first production will follow a year later, with ramp-up to full annual production of 20,000 tonnes of nickel and 1,200 tonnes of cobalt in 2010.

The Acoje/Zambales deposits - The Philippines
Key Features
• JV with Rusina Mining (ASX: RML, AIM: RMLA)
• 40% earn-in right
• Combined JORC resource of 840,000t contained nickel
• Nickel production potential 30,000tpa
• Life of Mine 20 years

The Acoje and Zambales deposits are located in the Zambales Mountains of Luzon Island in the Philippines. European Nickel signed a joint venture agreement with Rusina Mining in mid 2007 to jointly develop the deposits. The Company will fund the first US$10 million of the feasibility study costs to earn a 40% interest in the project and will lead the study and development of the project.  Rusina will dilute down to 40%, with the outstanding 20% held by Rusina’s local partner. Thereafter any additional funding will be provided by the parties.

Acoje Deposit
The Acoje deposit is targeted to be European Nickel’s next mine with a nickel production potential of 30,000tpa. Open pit mining operations have commenced with direct ore shipments to China. In total, 200,000 tonnes of stockpiled ore will be shipped over the next four months, whilst nickel prices remain strong. These shipments have the double benefit of providing the joint venture with short term cash-flow, as well as confirming the mine model, grades and mining costs at the Acoje deposit.

A heap leach pre-feasibility study is underway and due for completion by Q3 2008. The land purchase for one of the trial heap areas has been completed and one of the environmental applications for the construction of a trial heap leach plant has been submitted to the Philippines government for approval.

Recent metallurgical testwork returned positive results, confirming that European Nickel’s proprietary heap leach technology is able to treat equatorial laterites high in clay content. Bulk samples have been sent to the Çaldağ pilot plant for further testwork. Five columns are now under leach in the Çaldağ column laboratory, with good results to date. Indicative results confirm that the average Acoje extraction rates appear faster than the Çaldağ ore.

Zambales Deposit
At the Zambales deposit, an exploration programme focusing on the nickel saprolite ore is underway to increase the resource further.  An updated resource will be announced by the end of 2008. The resource to date is based on pits sunk in the limonite zone, which bottomed out above the saprolite ore, and is expected to be higher grade.

The Devolli project - Albania
Key Features
• 100% ownership
• JORC resource of 427,000t contained nickel
• Nickel production potential 15,000tpa
• Life of Mine 20 years

The Devolli project is located in south-eastern Albania, close to the Greek border and has a nickel production potential of 15,000tpa.  A pre-feasibility study is currently underway and expected to be completed by mid 2008.  European Nickel envisages an underground mine and an adjacent heap leach plant.

The project has the potential to significantly enrich the region, with employment for over 600 people, skills development and annual revenue in the region of US$100 - US$150 million.


Geographical Spread

Western Turkey, near Izmir, the Çaldag deposit The Balkans, including Serbia, Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo


Board of Directors and Key Management

David Whitehead (Non Executive Chairman)
Simon Purkiss (Managing Director)
Andrew Lindsay (Finance Director)
Euan Worthington (Non Executive Director)
Sir David Logan (Non Executive Director)
Paul J Lush (Non Executive Director)
Chris Pointon (Non Executive Director)
John Sutherland (Company Secretary and Chief Accountant)
Mike Oxley (Business Development Manager)
Kemal Yildirim (General Manager, Çaldag)

Company Address

49 Albemarle Street
London, United Kingdom W1S 4JR

Telephone:+44 20 7290 3130
Facsimile:+44 20 7290 3149
Email:info[at]enickel.co.uk
Website:http://www.enickel.co.uk

Additional Address/Key Contact

Turkey Office
Sardes Nikel Madencilik A.S.
Akdeniz Caddesi
No: 14 Birsel Is Merkezi
Kat: 5 D. 502
35210 Konak
Izmir
Tel:  +90 232 455 0030
Fax: +90 232 489 8060
www.sardesnikel.com.tr

Serbia Office
Chris Masurenko - Regional Geologist
European Nickel d.o.o.
Beogradska 27
1100 Belgrade
Serbia
Tel : +381 11 323 4652
Fax: +381 11 323 8896

Albania Office
Adriatic Nickel Resources Sh.p.k.
Rruga " Vaso Pasha "
Pallati 13/1 , Kati i 2
Ap. 6  Tirane
Albania
Tel + 355 4 268 133
Fax +355 4 268 133

Philippines Office
Asian Nickel Research & Technology Corp.
10/F SSHG Law Centre
105 Paseo de Roxas, Makati City
1226 Metro Manila
Tel: +632 667 6700
Fax: +632 667 6710

Capital

371 million shares in issue

Annual General Meeting

April, London

Year End

30 September

Nominated Brokers

Canaccord Adams Limited
Cardinal Place
7th Floor
80 Victoria Street
London, SW1E 5JL

Nominated Advisors

Canaccord Adams Limited
Cardinal Place
7th Floor
80 Victoria Street
London, SW1E 5JL

Major Shareholders

M & G (Prudential) 11.5%
J P Morgan 7.4%
Fidelity 6.3%
GLG 6.1%
RAB Capital 4.3%
AXA (Framlington) 4.2%
BHP Billiton SSM Development Pty Ltd 4.0%
Lehman Brothers International (Europe) 3.8%
Pictet London 3.8%
Capital Group 3.5%
Salida 3.1%

Related News

23/06/08 - European Nickel Goes Global
24/01/08 - European Nickel Still Waiting in the Woods
17/05/07 - European Nickel Diversifies Into the Philippines
26/03/07 - One Goes Up While Another Comes Down
21/02/07 - European Nickel Becomes Tied Ever Tighter To BHP Billiton

Most Recent Statement

11/08/08 - European Nickel Update on the Caldag Project
15/07/08 - Price Monitoring Extension
30/06/08 - Completion of sale of Philippine nickel assets
27/06/08 - European Nickel Completes Acquisition
24/06/08 - Interim Results For The Six Months Ended 31 March 2008
22/05/08 - European Nickel Update on the Caldag Project in Turkey

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