Tag Archives: Albion Process

Aeris Resources looks to solve Stockman recovery challenges with Albion process

Aeris Resources has provided an update on the feasibility study underway on its 100% owned Stockman project in Victoria, Australia, guiding for a development path that includes ultrafine grinding and the Albion Process from Glencore Technology.

Andre Labuschagne, Aeris’ Executive Chairman, said: “We are very excited with the potential of the Stockman project. Since acquiring Stockman as part of the Round Oak acquisition in July 2022, our technical teams have materially advanced the project.”

With a recent update to the mineral resource estimate for the Currawong deposit, the company now intends to mine only Currawong for the first 12 years of operations, at a rate of up to 850,000 t/y of ore, he added.

“Mining Currawong simplifies the operation compared to the previous plan of mining Currawong and Wilga concurrently, whilst also reducing up-front capital,” he said.

The processing strategy will involve two stages: the mine site processing plant will have a simplified flowsheet producing a high-grade copper concentrate and a bulk concentrate containing copper, zinc, gold and silver. The copper concentrate will be transported to market while the bulk concentrate will be trucked to a regional offsite processing facility. The offsite processing facility will use ultrafine grinding and the Albion Process to produce separate copper, zinc and precious metals saleable products.

Labuschagne said: “The addition of the Albion Process has potential to provide a step change in metal recoveries and materially improve project economics. An initial desktop study has been completed with the technology vendor, utilising the recent feasibility study and metallurgical test work results. A number of potential locations for the off-site processing facility have already been identified.

“The Albion Process technology is in operation at multiple locations globally, processing copper, zinc and precious metals. This is well established, oxidative leaching technology proven to treat a wide range of concentrates with high metal recoveries.”

The Albion Process uses a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure to work. It also tolerates a more variable feed and lower grade than other processes, according to Glencore Technology, meaning it can make some projects feasible and profitable where alternative technologies could not. The sulphides in the feed are oxidised and valuable metals liberated, with the economic metals recovered by conventional downstream processing. Test work requires only small sample masses with no pilot plant, Glencore Technology says.

The process has produced high recoveries in refractory gold and in base metal concentrates at the six Albion Process plants in operation across the globe, according to the company.

Labuschagne says opportunities to further improve other aspects of the operations, its ESG footprint and project economics have also been identified, which are progressing.

He added: “The feasibility study will now focus on verification of the metallurgical, flowsheet and economic assumptions associated with incorporating the Albion Process into the project. We are targeting to finalise the feasibility study in the second (June) half of 2024.”

The Stockman project was acquired by Round Oak Minerals Pty Ltd (ROM) from Independence Group NL (IGO) in December 2017. Aeris subsequently acquired the ROM businesses, including the Stockman project, in July 2022.

In 2019, ROM completed a Selection Phase Study (SPS), consolidating and advancing earlier studies undertaken by previous owners of the project, IGO and Jabiru Metals Limited. The ROM SPS comprised the development of two underground mines (Wilga and Currawong), mining approximately 1 Mt/y, and an on-site flotation processing plant producing copper and zinc concentrates with precious metal by-products. Results from the SPS provided the basis for ROM to commence a Definition Phase Study.

Telson Mining ready to experiment with metallurgical innovations at Campo Morado

Telson Mining, following a strong quarter of production from the Campo Morado mine, in Guerrero State, Mexico, is making plans to boost throughput and recoveries through the potential use of grinding, leaching and flotation technologies from the likes of Maelgwyn Mineral Services, Core Group and Glencore Technology.

The mine’s throughput averaged out at 58,100 t/mth in the March quarter, with total throughput for the quarter of 174,400 t being 4% higher than the December quarter. Some 11,013 t of zinc concentrate and 1,907 t of lead concentrate was produced over the period, compared with 9,974 t and 1,916 t, respectively, in the previous quarter.

Gold, silver, lead and zinc recoveries all improved, quarter-on-quarter, in the first three months of the year, the company added.

Ralph Shearing, Telson CEO and President, said: “These strong first quarter results continue to reflect our steady progression of improving the throughput and recoveries at Campo Morado. To this end, management intends to initiate a rigorous metallurgical testing program to advance through second phase testing the Leachox™ Process of Maelgwyn Mineral Services and the Albion Process™ of Core Group, both of which returned positive test results in first phase testing.”

He said this metallurgical testing program will also study the ability to increase base metal recoveries at microfine grinding with flotation recovery using Imhoflot Flotation (also Maelgwyn) and Jameson Cell (Glencore Technology) flotation technologies, both designed for such purposes.

“We are confident that additional recovery improvements are available utilising these exciting modern technologies which, if successful, can provide increased revenue streams,” Shearing added.

Maelgwyn’s Leachox Process consists of several Maelgwyn proprietary processes linked together including Imhoflot G-Cell flotation technology, ultra-fine grinding using the Ro-Star mill, Aachen Reactors and Aachen assisted cyanide destruction.

The Albion Process, meanwhile, is a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure. The feed to the Albion Process is refractory base or precious metal concentrates, where the sulphides in the feed are oxidised and liberated, allowing the target metals to be recovered by conventional means.

SGS to bring Glencore Technology’s Albion Process testing to Africa mining market

SGS Minerals is to offer Glencore Technology’s Albion Process™ test work to mining companies in Africa after the two extended an agreement and certification related to the hydrometallurgical process.

While SGS already has a relationship with Glencore Technology through SGS Lakefield – through an agreement signed last year – the extension opens up the potential for more large packages of work of “high relevance and value”, Glencore Technology says.

“For Glencore Technology, it extends further the global reach of Albion Process test work as it has grown 300% in the last 12-24 months and is seen as uniquely viable in terms of capital costs, operational costs and project feasibility,” the company said.

The new test work locations will now include Randberg in South Africa, with other locations being discussed elsewhere around the world, according to Glencore Technology.

The Albion Process uses a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure to work. It also tolerates a more variable feed and lower grade than other processes, according to Glencore Technology, meaning it can make some projects feasible and profitable where alternative technologies could not. The sulphides in the feed are oxidised and valuable metals liberated, with the economic metals recovered by conventional downstream processing. Test work requires only small sample masses with no pilot plant, Glencore Technology says.

The process has produced high recoveries in refractory gold and in base metal concentrates at the six Albion Process plants in operation across the globe, according to the company.

Glencore Technology’s Paul Voigt said: “The extension to Africa has been under discussion for quite some time. We know the importance of local contact and context. It’s also part of a wider focus we have for the African continent.”

SGS’ Niels Verbaan, said: “This is a natural and highly relevant extension of our work with Glencore Technology on Albion Process test work. We look forward to a larger global footprint to help operations in Africa and the Americas, especially those with complex mineralogies, to get an objective opinion on process options.”

SGS is the third certified provider of test work, joining Core Resources in Australia and TOMS Institute in Russia.

SGS Minerals on board with Glencore Technology’s Albion Process

Glencore Technology and SGS Minerals have announced an agreement and certification that has seen SGS’s Lakefield site in Ontario, Canada, become the latest laboratory to be certified to conduct amenability level Albion Process™ testwork.

SGS, one of the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification companies, has become only the third certified provider of Albion Process testwork, joining Core Resources in Australia and TOMS Institute in Russia, Glencore Technology said.

“SGS is a highly trusted provider of laboratory testwork services and becomes a valuable supplier to Glencore Technology, expanding testwork capability throughout the Americas,” the company said. The lab successfully performed Albion Process testwork on a gold/pyrite concentrate and a copper/gold concentrate as part of this qualification.

The Albion Process is emerging as a competitive proposition in hydrometallurgy, using a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure to help extract base or precious metals. The process sees the sulphides in base of precious metal concentrate feeds oxidised and valuable metals liberated, with the economic metals recovered by conventional downstream processing, according to Glencore Technology.

The SGS testwork certification is important to both companies because the correct performance of the testwork is key to the successful full-scale implementation of the Albion Process on which performance guarantees are based, Glencore Technology explained.

“While the number of certified laboratories will expand in other key geographic areas, it will be kept to a relatively small number to maintain quality,” the company added.

Glencore Technology’s Mike Hourn, said: “We are delighted to see SGS Lakefield join the family of laboratories with the capability to perform Albion Process amenability testwork. They’re good at what they do and SGS represents a significant presence for us in the Americas and their network is highly valued by Glencore Technology.”

SGS Lakefield’s Niels Verbaan, said: “SGS is pleased to be accredited by Glencore Technology on Albion Process™ Testwork and looks forward to working with its clients to provide an objective opinion on the available process options.”

Independent analysis presented at the Extraction 2018 conference suggested the Albion Process has much lower capital cost than traditional leaching technologies like pressure oxidation (POx) plants (Clary et al, 2018). It also tolerates a more variable feed and lower grade to work where others may not, according to Glencore Technology. “It can therefore make some projects feasible and profitable where alternative technologies were unable to,” the company said, adding that there are six plants in operation globally treating refractory gold and copper concentrates.

The Lakefield site of SGS Minerals is its centre of excellence for metallurgical and mineralogical testing in the Americas, offering both laboratory and pilot plant services.