IGO’s Nova Kicks FY19 Nickel Production Up a Notch

With the June 2019 quarter now having come to a close, Independence Group (ASX:IGO) is proudly displaying the results of their Nova nickel-copper asset, which exceeded its 2019 financial year (FY19) production guidance.

The asset, located in Western Australia, had a guidance range of 27,000 to 30,000 tonnes of nickel, 11,000 to 12,500 tonnes of copper and 850 to 950 tonnes of cobalt for FY19. However, preliminary production estimates Nova producing 30,708 tonnes of nickel, 13,693 tonnes of copper and 1,090 tonnes of cobalt.

“Strong operating discipline and ongoing optimization at Nova has delivered nickel production rates which have exceeded the average production rate determined in the feasibility study for each of the last five quarters,” IGO Managing Director and CEO Peter Bradford said in a statement.

“With capital development and grade control drilling substantially completed during FY19, Nova is positioned to continue to deliver strong results into FY20.”

Also noted in Thursday’s (July 4) release were results from IGO’s Tropicana joint-venture (JV) project, also in Western Australia, which saw gold production of 518,172 ounces. This fell between its FY19 guidance of 500,000 to 550,000 ounces.

In the statement, Bradford applauded Tropicana JV partner AngloGold Ashanti (ASX:AGG,OTC Pink:AULGF) for another “solid year of production,” highlighting the achievement of reaching an annual processing rate of over 8 million tonnes per year.

“The impressive operational performance from both Nova and Tropicana is underpinning our growth strategy which remains focused on exploration and discovery as well as the potential downstream processing opportunity to produce battery grade nickel sulfate from Nova concentrate,” he added.

In the previous quarter, Nova smashed records for the company when it put out 8,375 tonnes of nickel and 3,731 tonnes of copper. In turn, the asset boosted quarterly revenue to AU$232.8 million, as Nova alone experienced a 52 percent increase in revenue driven by growth in nickel and copper sales.

As of July 3, nickel was trading at US$12,180 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange while copper was trading at US$5,873 per tonne.

Independence Group shares grew 2.51 percent on the ASX on Thursday, ending the trading day at AU$4.91.

Don’t forget to follow us at @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.