Poseidon Nickel appoints new CEO ahead of restarting nickel mines
Robert Dennis commences as Poseidon Nickel’s chief executive officer and managing director effective 1 August.
A new top dog has been appointed to lead Poseidon Nickel (ASX: POS) as it hopes to capitalise on the recovering nickel market.
The company today announced the appointment of Robert Dennis as chief executive officer and managing director, with effect from 1 August.
Mr Dennis is currently a non-executive director of Poseidon and used to be the chief operating officer.
He remained on Poseidon’s board as a non-executive director when he took up a COO role at Independence Group (ASX: IGO) in 2014, where he oversaw the development and commissioning of Independence’s Nova nickel-copper project.
He has extensive experience in nickel mines and process plants, including being the underground manager for Poseidon’s Windarra mine when it was previously operated by Western Mining Corporation.
“The company believes Rob’s extensive experience in the development and commissioning of mining projects makes him ideally suited to the next phase of Poseidon’s development as we seek to take advantage of rising nickel prices, by commissioning the Black Swan and Silver Swan mines and processing plant,” Poseidon stated.
Restart of nickel operations
Earlier this month, the company announced encouraging results from a feasibility study to restart its wholly-owned Black Swan and Silver Swan nickel operations.
At an operating cost of US$3.18 per pound of nickel, the study projected revenues of A$288.6 million, with net cash flow of A$60.2 million.
In addition, it calculated A$56.7 million in capital expenditure required to refurbish and restart the projects.
In an effort to resume operations as soon as possible, Poseidon said it was in advanced talks with several parties regarding possible funding arrangements.
The company is hoping to commence production within 12 months of securing funding.
The Black Swan open pit and Silver Swan underground operations are expected to produce a total of 8000 tonnes per annum of nickel in an initial mine life of more than three years.
According to Poseidon, revenue from the operations will be diverted into exploration to extend mine life and advance other nickel assets, in addition to restarting the Lake Johnston plant, which has a 1.5 million tonne per annum processing capacity.