Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with Toro Energy Limited (ASX:TOE) Managing Director, Dr Vanessa GuthrieCarolyn Herbert: Hello I’m Carolyn Herbert from the Finance News Network and joining me from Toro Energy Limited
(ASX:TOE) is Managing Director, Dr Vanessa Guthrie. Vanessa, welcome back.
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: Thanks Carolyn, good to be here.
Carolyn Herbert: Can you start by giving us a quick recap of your key project?
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: Toro is an ASX listed company and this year we celebrated 10 years of listing. And our key project is the Wiluna project in Western Australia, which is six deposits over a region of about 100 kilometres. It’s ready to bring to market; it’s the first project that’s been approved in Western Australia, for uranium mining. It’ll employ 170 people during operations and produce two million pounds per annum, to take to the growing nuclear markets in Asia.
Carolyn Herbert: Now to your latest announcement regarding leaching and extraction rates from Phase 2 optimisation studies. What rates were achieved?
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: The Phase 2 optimisation comes on the back of the very exciting news and beneficiation studies that we did earlier this year. What we’ve been able to achieve is a 90 per cent extraction rate and very rapid leaching of the beneficiated ores. This is great news for us as we move forward in these optimisation studies, because it will have a significant cost impact in terms of reduction of both capital and operating costs, on the future mine design.
Carolyn Herbert: What does this mean for the processing circuit design and extraction costs?
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: This means that there’ll be further significant cost savings in the mineral processing circuit. In particular in both capital costs and construction costs, and the operating cost. And that’s because we are now at scoping study stage, and we can fundamentally redesign the process circuit. What we’re now looking at is further test work, looking at washing and filtering the oreso that we can remove salts and therefore, reduce the reagent consumption. And this is a key element in the operating cost.
Carolyn Herbert: Now to the EPA approvals process and project timeline, what’s the current EPA status?
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: The EPA made their recommendation to approve the project on the 6thof September, for the Millipede and Lake Maitland deposits. And this goes alongside the existing approvals we have for Centipede, Lake Way and the processing circuit. We’ve been through a public appeal process and the appeals convener is now gathering their information, addressing the appeals, there were 14 appeals received.
We expect the appeals process now to be completed towards the end of November. And the Minister we hope will be able to make an approval decision, by the end of the year. So with respect to the project timeline, this means that in 2017 we’ll be moving into more feasibility studies. And the project is really ready for market, as and when the uranium price turns.
Carolyn Herbert: Uranium prices have been fairly soft over the past six months. What’s behind this?
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: There’s significant inventory of uranium stocks that have built up globally, due to the Japanese reactor fleet shutdown. And that has meant that demand is soft relative to supply. Of course,the long-term fundamentals of China building more demand and India building more reactors, means that that inventory will get soaked up over time. But really the big signal,the sentiment signal, is the Japanese reactor restart, which they have started some reactors and they’re on track to continue that process.
Carolyn Herbert: Finally Vanessa. Where would you like to see Toro six months from now?
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: Toro has the Wiluna project really ready to meet that growing demand in Asia, particularly China and India. We have now our environmental approvals in place, with the last hurdle by the end of the year. We finalised a traditional owner agreement, so we have secured land access. We’re a technically robust project, with new developments through that scoping study that will fundamentally improve the project economics. So during 2017, we’re looking forward to bringing Wiluna to the market, as and when the market comes online.
Carolyn Herbert: Dr Vanessa Guthrie, thanks for the update.
Dr Vanessa Guthrie: My pleasure, thanks very much.
Ends
