Boilermaker;
I emailed Jim. He provided Scott's reply to the questions. (Or info from Scott that answers the questions.) Email sent Friday, November 1, 2019 at 9:23 AM CST, reply received Friday, November 1, 2019, 2:29:35 PM CDT, so it was very prompt.
"P. thanks for reaching out. Good questions. I thought I would go ahead and answer these via email, in the event we don’t get to them because of time constraints in the webcast. Answers (from Scott Honan) below!"
Jim
Q
"1) Has Rockwell Automation provided final designs for extraction and refining process equipment which can be used for final building dimensions and ground loading calculations? (Was this information included in the final air permit designs?)"
Scott:
"Rockwell, Maverick and Endress+Hauser will provide instrumentation, controls and automation across the site, which is around 1-2% of the capital cost. This will allow us to standardize around a single set of control systems, and should streamline operation and maintenance of these systems. The Surface EPC firm will design the process equipment. We have adequate geotechnical data for building dimensions and ground loading to support our post-FS level design, and as our air permit has been deemed technical complete, there’s enough engineering done to satisfy the air permitting agency. Additional geotechnical investigations will be integrated into the Surface EPC scope of work, and will be part of early execution of the Surface EPC contract."
Q
"2) Has Niocorp selected a Contractor/construction firm yet to handle site preparation and or buildings buildings that will house the extraction and refinement operations? (Presumably a firm located in NE.)"
Scott:
"The Surface EPC contractor will handle all of this."
Q
"3) Will ground freezing still be used?"
Scott:
"The project execution plan and budget include all the costs associated with ground freezing. Part of that work includes additional hydrogeologic investigations in the project area, as well as intensive hydrogeologic and geotechnical investigations at the production shaft and ventilation shaft locations. Our expectation is that these investigations will confirm that shaft freezing will be effective and necessary. But it is always possible that freezing could be eliminated if the outcome of these investigations is very favorable. We will plan and budget for freezing and realize some upside on the capital budget if it is not needed."
Q
"4) (A little off the wall!) Will Niocorp have a dedicated power generation plant at the site, an electrical generator? Or, will the site include a Vanadium redox battery backup in case of power outages? (I know that Mark Smith was looking at this for Largo Resources.) For safety I would assume some sort of power backup would exist to power the lift in the main shaft. Just curious."
Scott:
"It's more cost effective for us to buy power from the local utility, OPPD. Their rates are relatively low. We will have diesel backup generators as emergency power for the mine hoists and critical functions in the surface plant. The loads for the emergency functions are in the megawatt range, and battery technology as a backup is not cost effective for these applications yet. The other issue is that, during a prolonged outage, you can easily refuel a backup generator, but you can’t refuel a backup battery."
So, There you be! Thoughts?
