Ready For Scaled Up Validation Work In China
Neometals Ltd (ASX: NMT) has announced excellent results from beneficiation test-work which has generated further concentrate samples for scale up validation work in China.
The largest-scale test work programme was conducted on three bulk samples (20 tonnes) of Barrambie Eastern band (high titanium zone) mineralised material which generated 11 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate (containing titanium, vanadium and iron) from traditional gravity spirals used by the mineral sands industry.
Low-temperature reduction roasting and subsequent magnetic separation produced a high-quality ilmenite (> 52 % TiO2 content) at high recoveries (> 87% TiO2 recovery) and mass yield of 60%, and a marketable magnetite by-product concentrate (with grades equivalent to 58.7% Fe and 1.58% V2O5).
Historically, Neometals has evaluated the production of either vanadium or titanium in isolation using different flowsheets. Vanadium and titanium are industrial minerals which require significant proof of value-in-use when negotiating with potential off- takers.
The Barrambie development strategy seeks to realise value from both the titanium and vanadium in the deposit via the generation of clean multi-metal concentrates from an initial capital-light mining and beneficiation operation for export to end- users.
Managing Director Chris Reed said the reductive roast-magnetic separation work is a breakthrough for the company can with confidence produce two separate products that achieved market ready specifications, with high mass pulls towards the potential higher value ilmenite product.
Neometals’ Chinese partner, IMUMR, is due to take delivery of a one tonne sample of the mixed concentrate material to allow replication of the Neometals reductive roast results and further downstream processing of the products. Validation of Australian test-work results using Chinese laboratories is standard practice in China and will support ongoing product offtake dialogues.
“These test work results are a breakthrough in simplifying the development concept for Barrambie. Proving that a simple gravity concentrate can be roasted and separated into two high quality concentrates is a significant step forward in realising our goal of developing Barrambie with strong partners,” Mr Reed said.
“We are attracting strong interest from potential off-take partners and we look forward to continuing to work with IMUMR on advancing the project.”
Barrambie is the most advanced, undeveloped hard-rock titanium Mineral Resource in Australia, located adjacent to existing transport infrastructure giving access to open user port facilities.
Barrambie has a granted MiningProposal for a 1.2 Mtpa mining operation and Ministerial Approval for construction of a processing plant with a throughput of 3.2Mtpa.
The Barrambie mineralisation contains high-grade ilmenite intergrown with a vanadium-bearing magnetite (iron) and, as demonstrated, the Neometals planned process flowsheet can produce a superior concentrate with high recoveries.
The development strategy revolves around extracting value from both the titanium and vanadium in the deposit. The high- level schematic flowsheet for this processing option involving mining, gravity beneficiation, reductive calcination and magnetic beneficiation into an ilmenite (TiO2 concentrate) and an Fe-V concentrate.
