Welcome to a roundup of some of our financing, exploration, and development stories on Theassay.com over the last week. To keep up to date with all the latest headlines, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
New exploration and development
Over the past week, The Metals Company Inc. (Nasdaq: TMC) has successfully produced the world’s first cobalt sulphate derived exclusively from seafloor polymetallic nodules. The cobalt sulphate was generated during bench-scale testing of TMC’s hydrometallurgical flowsheet design with SGS Canada Inc. The test work was carried out at SGS’ Metallurgical Centre of Excellence testing facility in Lakefield, Ontario.
“This achievement further demonstrates the potential for seafloor polymetallic nodules as a valuable resource,” said Dr. Jeffrey Donald, TMC Head of Onshore Development. “Following the success of our first nickel sulphate production in April, production of the world’s first cobalt sulphate from deep-seafloor nodules is another important milestone for TMC and for creating a responsible supply of metals required for human flourishing. SGS continues to execute at a high level and this milestone demonstrates the viability of our process and our dedication to near-zero solid waste nodule processing.”
Also, Century Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LCE | OTCQX: CYDVF | Frankfurt: C1Z) has announced the filing of the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the feasibility study of the Clayton Valley Lithium Project, Esmeralda County, Nevada, USA.
During the preparation for the report, minor changes were made to the parameters used to determine the mineral resource and reserve estimates. The resulting economic analysis is effectively unchanged. Using a base case price of US$24,000/t of lithium carbonate, the project after-tax cash flow has a 17.2% internal rate of return (IRR) and a US$3.16B net present value (NPV) at an 8% discount rate.
Additionally, the mineral resource and reserve estimates for the project were updated for the report and built using geologic data and 1,318 lithium assays from 45 core holes drilled between 2017 and 2022.
Drilling results
Meanwhile, Freegold Ventures Limited (TSX: FVL | OCTQX: FGOVF) has announced positive results based on initial metallurgical test work completed from its 2020 – 2022 drill programme. The programme’s objectives were:
- Determination of gold recovery and gold deportment to products using standard and commercially employed mineral processing unit operations
- Initial environmental assessment of process tailing stream(s)
- Characterization of gold losses to focus ongoing metallurgical programmes to optimize the flowsheet design
- Eight drill core composites representing various locations and grades within the Dolphin/Cleary areas were generated using continuous drill intervals selected to represent potential mill feed. The drill hole and interval selections encompassed the three primary gold-hosting lithologies. Results demonstrate that a significant portion of the mineralization is non-refractory and amenable to conventional processing techniques
The average recovery from the eight composites was 77% using gravity and CIL. Recoveries increased to an average of 97.5% where gravity + flotation were utilized.
Freegold has stated that the drilling success at its Golden Summit project since 2020 has been truly remarkable, with a significantly increased resource which has enhanced the project’s potential.
The current pit-constrained resource at Golden Summit hosts both an oxide and a primary resource. The oxide resource is contained within the top 70%m, and previous column testwork on the oxide material demonstrated that heap leach gold recoveries of 85% can be achieved within two weeks.
Other company news
Suvo Strategic Minerals Limited (ASX: SUV) has appointed Mark Pensabene as non-executive director of the company, effective immediately.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering and commerce degrees from the University of Western Australia and has over 20 years of operational and management experience in the engineering and construction sectors.
Mark spent 18 years with ASX-200 company, Monadelphous Group, where he held a number of general manager roles. Most recently, Mark was the executive general manager & COO at Primero Group, subsidiary of ASX listed NRW Holdings, a company specializing in the provision of EPC services in the Western Australian and North American mining sectors.
His appointment comes at an opportune time as the company looks to finalize the binding Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with PERMAcast and fast track the commercialization of low carbon geopolymer concrete (GPC) products. PERMAcast, given their scale and expertise, offer a clear avenue for scale-up and industry validation.
