Responds To Industry Request For Acid-Spar Sample
Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXV:CCE) has delivered a sample of acid-spar produced from the Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit in Canada in response to a request from an industry major.
The 0.5 kg sample grades >97% CaF2 and was produced by Hazen Research using the front-end beneficiation approach developed at its facilities in Colorado. Hazen Research is also developing the primary rare earth element (REE) recovery flowsheet.
Commerce Resources President, Chris Grove, said two base approaches have been developed to allow for fluorspar recovery at high-grades and will continue to be evaluated to determine the optimal method while also maximising the total REE recovery.
He added that over the past several months, as the company has demonstrated its ability to recover acid-spar from its Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Deposit, numerous sample requests have been received from various global commodity trading companies, as well as specific end-users. The interest in the market for new sources of fluorspar continues to increase and places the Ashram Deposit in an enviable position to capitalise on a by-product that has negligible impact on its primary REE recovery circuit.
“We are very pleased with the positive results achieved by Hazen in the production of this sample of acid-grade fluorspar, and we are excited to have delivered this sample as per industry request,” Mr Grove said.
“We look forward to the achievement of additional milestones financed by the recent closure of both financings undertaken, and finally, we are very appreciative of the interest we have received from investors in the ongoing developments of our Ashram REE/ Fluorspar Deposit”.
Mr Grove said that in addition to being one of the largest rare earth deposits globally, the Ashram Deposit is also one of the largest fluorspar deposits globally. The production of REEs and fluorspar are currently dominated by China, placing Ashram in a unique position to potentially address the supply concerns of these two critical commodities. Both REEs and fluorspar are considered critical / strategic commodities by the US Department of the Interior, and the European Union.
Fluorspar Market
Fluorspar is an essential raw material to the steel, aluminum, and chemical industries in two marketable products, acid spar grade and met spar grade.
Acid-spar (>97% CaF2), accounting for roughly sixty percent of the market, is primarily used to synthesise hydrofluoric acid (HF) and subsequent fluorochemicals, and in the production of aluminum metal, to reduce process temperatures and energy consumption. It is also a key raw ingredient of materials used in enhancing the operational performance of lithium-ion batteries.
Met-spar (>60% CaF2), accounting for roughly 40% of the global fluorspar market, is primarily used as a flux in the steel making process to lower the melting temperature, to reduce slag viscosity and remove impurities.
Similar to the prevailing dynamics for rare earth elements, China was historically the largest exporter of fluorspar. However, in the last three years, China has become a net importer. This has caused significant price appreciation for fluorspar, and market interest from industry in new sources.
