Tag Archives: Steinert

Future Metals makes mining and processing ‘breakthrough’ at Panton

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Future Metals says the latest flotation and ore sorting test work for its Panton platinum group metals project in Western Australia represents a mining and processing “breakthrough”.

Results from bulk ore sorting and flotation optimisation and repeatability test work for its Panton project demonstrated a significant de-risking for the future mining and processing of the company’s 6.9 Moz palladium-equivalent JORC resource and provide a credible path towards developing a low capital, high margin PGM-Ni operation, it said.

The company has also commenced scoping study and test work evaluation with PGM downstream processing technology providers.

Previous test work on Panton concentrate has demonstrated recoveries of 99%-plus for a majority of metals contained in the concentrate. These processes produce upgraded metals products for direct sale to refineries, or refining on site, improving payabilities, reducing logistics costs and reducing emissions relative to the smelting process route.

Initial assessment of the Lifezone Metals Ltd hydrometallurgy technology – which is already in use at the Pilanesberg Platinum Mines operation on South Africa’s Bushveld Complex – suggests that this would be a low capital flowsheet addition with significant operating and economic benefits.

Jardee Kininmonth, Managing Director of Future Metals, said: “We have now demonstrated a credible metallurgical solution which places Panton firmly on the development pathway. Panton is the highest grade PGM deposit in Australia, enabling us to progress a low capital and high margin operation with significant growth upside.

“Optimisation and variability flotation test work has demonstrated highly repeatable results with strong recoveries at high concentrate grades.”

New flotation results from this latest program of optimisation and variability test work yielded positive results on the high-grade chromitite samples with PGM recoveries of 75.7-81.4% with concentrate grades from 167-387 g/t PGM with an average of 286 g/t PGM.

Kininmonth continued: “The ore sorting results are significant, as it is the key to increasing mineable tonnes while ensuring the ore reporting to the mill is high grade. This allows for increased economies of scale within the mine, utilising conventional underground mining methods, while decreasing processing plant capital costs by increasing the grade of the mill feed, with negligible losses of high-grade ore.”

Following “sighter” test work success, a bulk sorting test was completed with Steinert Sorting Solutions using its X-ray Transmission (XRT) and 3D Laser combination sort program, due to the chromitite in the Panton samples being substantially higher in atomic density.

The bulk test work involved compositing separate chromitite and dunite samples to replicate the expected feed mix from a mine stope. The chromitite and dunite were crushed and screened into to three size fractions: plus-25 mm, plus-10 mm, and -10 mm.

The bulk ore sort test work validated the sighter test work on multiple size fractions, demonstrating 96.7% recovery of high-grade ore and rejection of low-grade and waste, increasing the PGM grade of the potential mill feed by 10.7% and reducing the throughput volume by 12.7%.

Kininmonth concluded: “Additionally, we have been progressing discussions with potential technology partners to assess a low-capital downstream integration option at Panton. Downstream integration enables the production of high-margin metals products while also significantly decreasing the emissions profile associated with those products, thereby differentiating Panton from the majority of South African and Russia producers, which use coal-fired power and generate other emissions such as sulphur dioxide.

“Downstream processing also closely aligns Panton with the Australian Government’s critical minerals strategy which incentivises onshore upgrading and development of strategically important deposits such as Panton.”

Steinert mechanical ore sorter starts up at Novo’s Nullagine gold project

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Novo Resources Corp has advised that Phase 2 mechanical sorter trials using a Steinert KSS 100F LIXT fine mechanical sorting unit have commenced at the Nullagine gold project, in Western Australia.

Over recent weeks, the sorter infrastructure has been mobilised, constructed and commissioned adjacent to the company’s Golden Eagle processing plant at Nullagine. Fifty samples from the company’s Comet Well, Purdy’s Reward, Egina, and Talga Talga projects ranging in size from 800 kg to around 5 t have been delivered to the site for crushing and screening ahead of Phase 2 sorter test work.

The test work program in late 2021 and early 2022 is designed to achieve multiple objectives:

  • Construct and commission the sorter and associated infrastructure (Phase 1 – complete);
  • Tune the sorter to the various geological regimes and size fractions and train Novo operators in its use;
  • Process samples from multiple Novo projects around the Pilbara to field test mass pull to concentrate;
  • Establish assay protocols for sorter concentrate ‘accepts’ and waste ‘rejects’. Smaller concentrate mass will be processed by Chrysos PhotonAssay technology at Intertek’s laboratory in Perth, Western Australia. The Acacia reactor and electrowinning apparatus in the gold room at the Nullagine is being commissioned to accept larger masses of material from accepts and reject samples. This will be particularly important as the test work program moves to Phase 3 at the company’s Comet Well project in 2022 to test bulk samples (up to 20,000 t of potentially mineralised material from the Comet Well and Purdy’s Reward projects).

The sorter infrastructure, designed and constructed by OPS Screening and Crushing Equipment, is a fully modular and containerised turnkey plant deployable to any of Novo’s tenements in the future for test work and potential large bulk sampling and processing, the company said. The sorter includes feed and product transfer conveyors, allowing the sorter to produce gold-bearing concentrates in a single pass for further upgrading or downstream processing.

“This Phase 2 trial of the sorter within the Golden Eagle processing facility area is the culmination of several years of test work conducted by Novo to determine the amenability of mechanical sorting to its 13,250 sq.km of tenements across Western Australia,” the company said. “Mechanical sensor-based sorting utilises X-ray technology, 3D colour laser and metal induction to identify gold-bearing material. A high-pressure air jet ‘shoots’ these gold bearing particles into a collection system to produce a concentrate for further downstream processing.”

Next steps at the project include:

  • Phase 2 completion prior to May 2022 – complete processing and assaying of all outstanding coarse, mid and fines samples from the company’s Comet Well, Purdy’s Reward, Egina and Talga Talga projects and establish operating protocols for processing larger mass; and
  • Phase 3 commencing May 2022 (subject to approval from the Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation) – relocate the sorter and infrastructure to the Comet Well project for bulk test work.

Rob Humphryson, CEO and a Director of Novo, said: “Novo is delighted to see the sorter in operation at the Nullagine gold project. This represents the culmination of considerable planning involving a dedicated consortium of mechanical, electrical, geological and processing experts aiming to maximise the likelihood of success of an innovative application for sorting in the gold industry.

“Results from Phase 3 bulk sampling program set to commence in 2022 at the Comet Well and Purdy’s Reward projects, together with the results of the Phase 2 trials at the Nullagine gold project this year, are expected to provide sufficient geological and operating certainty to enable Novo to progress towards commercial operations at Novo’s nuggety gold deposits.”

Modular Steinert KSS sorting plant heading to Novo’s Pilbara deposits

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Novo Resources has advised that Phase 2 mechanical sorting trials of its Pilbara deposit bulk samples will commence from early December 2021 following the dispatch of a Steinert KSS 100F LIXT fine mechanical sorting unit, due to be commissioned at its operation in Western Australia over the next few weeks.

The sorter will be installed adjacent to the company’s Golden Eagle processing facility in Nullagine.

Fifty samples from four different deposits across the Pilbara, ranging in size from 800 kg to approximately five tonnes, will be crushed and screened into three size fractions prior to testing through the sorter. The bulk samples will be processed by the sorter to produce a concentrate for gold assay.

Once this second phase of testing is complete, expected around the June quarter of 2022, the next phase of the test work will involve relocating the sorter to the company’ Comet Well project in Karratha, Western Australia, and commencing proposed large-scale bulk sample sorting test work of 20,000 t, leading to potential commercialisation of mechanical sorting for Pilbara conglomerates, Novo said.

The sorter infrastructure, designed and constructed by OPS Screening and Crushing Equipment, is a fully modular and containerised turnkey plant deployable to any of Novo’s tenements in the future for test work and potential large bulk sampling and processing, according to Novo. The sorter includes feed and product transfer conveyors, allowing the sorter to produce gold-bearing concentrates in a single pass for further upgrading or downstream processing.

This trial of the sorter within the Golden Eagle processing facility area is a culmination of several years of test work conducted by Novo to determine the amenability of mechanical sorting to its 13,250 sq.km of tenements across Western Australia.

“Mechanical sensor-based sorting utilises X-ray technology, 3D colour laser and metal induction to identify gold-bearing material,” Novo said. “A high-pressure air jet ‘shoots’ these gold-bearing particles into a collection system to produce a concentrate for further downstream processing.”

Rob Humphryson, CEO and a Director of Novo, said: “Mobilising the mechanical sorter for Phase 2 field trials represents an important step in progressing this innovative technology. We are looking forward to observing sorter performance from field samples collected at Comet Well, Purdy’s Reward, Talga Talga and Egina ahead of larger-scale field trials at Comet Well and Purdy’s Reward scheduled for Q2 (June quarter) 2022.”

Steinert XRT ore sorter testing shows promise at Northern Minerals rare earth project

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Northern Minerals Ltd has progressed its ore sorting project enhancement initiative with the commissioning and testing of the Steinert sorter system, and is now producing ore sorted material and converting this to a 30% total rare earth oxide (TREO) concentrate in its’ Browns Range beneficiation plant in Western Australia.

Northern Minerals’ CEO, Mark Tory, said: “The construction, commissioning and testing of the ore sorter circuit marks another milestone in the development of the Browns Range project.

“The positive bulk sample tests confirm the effectiveness of the ore sorting circuit on the Wolverine ore to significantly increase the head grade to the mill which is expected to result in higher production rates and lower operating costs for a full-scale operation at Browns Range.

“It’s also pleasing to see the initial ore sorting tests the Banshee ore showing promise which, if shown to be effective in future tests, has potential to significantly increase the Browns Range mineral resource estimate.”

He added: “Being able to test and operate the ore sorting circuit in conjunction with the pilot beneficiation plant is providing extremely valuable data that you just can’t get from small bench-scale tests and this will feed into our feasibility study for a potential commercial scale heavy rare earth operation at Browns Range.”

The ore sorter system was constructed during 2020 and 2021 and commissioned in June 2021. The sorter that was installed is a 2-m wide Steinert sorter that uses X-ray Transmission (XRT) and laser detectors to identify rare earth mineralisation.

The sorter has been run over two test campaigns, which included 41 test runs processing 5,300 t of ore from the run of mine stockpiles largely coming from Wolverine ore, and five test runs on Banshee ore that was bulk sampled from a surface costean that provided 285 t of Banshee ore.

The tests have confirmed that simultaneous sorting of two size fractions is possible on the sorter, allowing a single machine to sort both sortable size fractions (10 mm-25 mm and 25 mm-75 mm), Northern Minerals says. The sortable fraction (>10 mm material) of Wolverine ore can be successfully sorted (90% TREO recovery in 50% of the mass) and, when combined with non-sortable fines, achieves a 45% grade increase to the mill and over 95% TREO recovery when feeding a 0.9% TREO ore.

The sorter system is now being run to produce feed for the beneficiation plant and 4,479 t of Wolverine ore have been processed through the ore sorter circuit to the end of August. Processing of the Wolverine ore sorted material in the beneficiation plant has resulted in better recoveries in the magnetic separation plant and flotation plant compared with feeding unsorted ore, the company says. A bulk sample of 50 t of 30% TREO rare earth concentrate has being produced for test work by facilities identified with likely future capability and capacity to process the heavy rare earth xenotime concentrate produced at Browns Range.

Bulks sample tests have highlighted some key factors to consider for ore sorting that cannot be determined at bench scale using vendor equipment in laboratory settings. Understanding the impact of these factors is critical to including an ore sorting circuit in a full-scale processing facility.

Initial sorting tests of the Banshee ore have shown that the highly oxidised surface material contains a large fines fraction and that the grade of the sortable fraction (ie >10 mm) can be doubled recovering more than 60% of the TREO in 25% of the mass. An additional bulk sample is being extracted from deeper in the costean and three diamond drill holes are being drilled for further test work.

The bulk ore sorting test work is a key input for the full-scale beneficiation plant feasibility study currently underway, which will also leverage off the substantial technical, operational and economic data from the R&D test work at the Browns Range Pilot Plant since 2018, the company says.

COREM, Steinert ore sorting tests present opportunities for Cartier at Chimo gold project

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Cartier Resources says ore sorting tests carried out by COREM and Steinert US on mineralised samples from the Chimo Mine property, in Quebec, Canada, have indicated gold grades could increase substantially with the use of the pre-concentration technology.

Gold from Chimo is present in two types of mineralised facies: i) quartz veins with coarse visible gold grains having an affinity for the gravity concentration of gold at the mill and ii) zones of silica-rich mafic rocks associated with non-refractory arsenopyrite having an affinity for the flotation of a concentrate of arsenopyrite for gold recovery at the mill.

To perform the sorting tests, rocks representative of the two mineralised facies, made up of the following six mineralogical facies, were first selected for static recognition of each of the facies by the sensors of the sorter:

  • Gold-bearing quartz veins;
  • Gold-bearing silica;
  • High grade gold-bearing arsenopyrite;
  • Medium grade gold-bearing arsenopyrite;
  • Low grade gold-bearing arsenopyrite; and
  • Mafic waste rock.

The detection sensors of the industrial sorter at COREM in Quebec, Canada, were the RGB camera using the optical properties of reflection, brightness and transparency to locate quartz and silica and the X-ray Transmission sensor using the volumetric property of atomic density to locate arsenopyrite. The two sensors adequately recognised the six mineralogical facies associated with the mineralisation, with dynamic calibration tests of the sorter with the moving conveyor making it possible to sort, one at a time, 2 kg samples of each of the facies, Cartier said.

The results of this first test at COREM showed the first three sorts (on a total of eight sorts) concentrated 99.1% of the gold contained in 44.4% by mass of material mass for a grade of 56.3 g/t Au, representing a percentage increase of 223% in gold content over sorter feed. The reject, representing 0.9% by mass of material, contained only 0.4 g/t Au.

The sorter was then ready to perform sorting tests on the 105.7 kg production sample, representative of the mineralised facies at an average grade of 2.16 g/t Au. This content was obtained by including 20% by mass of material with zero grade of gold, simulating dilution in the stopes. COREM’s sorting plan separated 53.9% by mass of the material in the form of a preconcentrate at an average grade of 3.68 g/t Au, representing an increase of 170% in the gold grade compared with the sorter feed. The waste disposal, separated from the mineralisation, represented 46.1% by mass of material at an average grade of 0.38 g/t Au.

Sorting tests carried out with Steinert in Kentucky using a Steinert KSS FLI XT machine with XRT, colour, laser, and induction sensors yielded comparable results.

A 80.69 kg production sample, representative of the mineralised facies at an average grade of 2.13 g/t Au, to which 20% by mass of material at zero grade of gold was added mathematically, representing the dilution in the workings, was used for testing. The new calculated diluted grade was 1.55 g/t Au.

Calculation of the results revealed that 51% by mass of the dilute grade material could be separated as a preconcentrate at an average grade of 2.72 g/t Au, representing a 175% increase in gold grade compared with the sorter feed. The waste disposal, which would be separated from the mineralisation, would represent 49% by mass of material at an average grade of 0.36 g/t Au.

Sorting tests with COREM were carried out following these tests to validate that the 20% of dilution material at zero grade of gold, mathematically added, could physically be effectively separated by the sorter, Cartier said.

The sorting tests carried out by both COREM and Steinert US were comparable, with these results providing prospects for increasing the value of the resources with ore sorting technology.

The objective of the industrial sorting of the mineralisation is to increase the grade of the preconcentrated material preceding the milling operations, which allows an increase in the recovery rate at the mill, reduces transport costs to the mill, reduces milling costs, reduces the costs of environmental restoration of mine tailings, and reduces the environmental footprint of mine tailings and, consequently, increases the social acceptability of the mining project, Cartier said.

The most recent resource estimate from Chimo included 6.6 Mt at an average grade of 3.21 g/t Au for a total of 684,000 oz of gold in the indicated category and 15.2 Mt at an average grade of 2.77 g/t Au for a total of 1.36 Moz of gold in the inferred category.

Hochschild’s Inmaculada set for ore sorting pilot plant

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Hochschild says it has approved a $7 million budget to construct an ore sorting pilot plant at its Inmaculada gold mine in Peru in 2021.

The investment follows previous test work carried out with both TOMRA and Steinert. This saw the company conduct initial bulk testing in Germany with both companies and a 20-t pilot scale test with Steinert in Brazil.

The company also enlisted the help of Ausenco to carry out a prefeasibility study on applying ore sorting at Inmaculada.

In the company’s 2019 preliminary results presentation back in February, Ramón Barúa, Hochschild Mining Chief Financial Officer, said ore sorting could prove particularly useful at the Millet and Divina veins at Inmaculada.

He said, in addition to consulting with TOMRA, Steinert and Ausenco, the company had been working in-house to improve the sensors and the algorithm that separates the ore from the waste in these sorters, with the technology showing a clean separation between the quartz-based mineralisation and the andesite holding the rock at Inmaculada.

In its latest financial year results released today, Hochschild said of the ore sorting investment: “We believe this project may eventually deliver significant improvements in recoveries at the mine and potentially help to optimise other key projects in Hochschild’s portfolio.”

For 2020, the company recorded overall production of 289,293 oz of gold-equivalent at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,098/oz of gold equivalent. Inmaculada remained the cornerstone of the company, producing 176,086 oz of gold-equivalent.

Peel Mining’s South Cobar preliminary flowsheet to factor in ore sorting

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Peel Mining says positive results from ore sorting test work at the Southern Nights and Mallee Bull deposits, part of its 100%-owned South Cobar Project, in western New South Wales, Australia, provide encouragement for the inclusion of this pre-concentration technology into future process plant design.

So encouraged by this testing is Peel that it has engaged GR Engineering to integrate ore sorting technology into an updated processing plant technical report for the project.

At the same time as this, Peel announced that GR Engineering had recently completed a preliminary process plant technical report for South Cobar that considers crushing, grinding, gravity, flotation and cyanidation process stages for the recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc from the various mineralisation styles within Peel’s deposits.

Meanwhile, the recently received positive preliminary ore sorting test work results from work undertaken on diamond drilling samples shows there is potential for improvements in the flowsheet.

The ore sorting test work, completed in conjunction with ongoing metallurgical studies, was undertaken by Steinert and TOMRA.

Steinert ’s test work on Southern Nights mineralisation demonstrated strong recovery and upgrade potential with two size range samples returning, on average, circa-93% Zn, circa-91% Pb, circa-91% Ag, circa-87% Cu and circa-82% Au recoveries to an average of circa-54% of the feed mass (circa-46% of feed mass rejection) increasing the lead and zinc grades by 61% and 64%, respectively.

TOMRA’s test work on Mallee Bull mineralisation achieved significant waste mass reductions while maintaining very high copper recoveries (≥95% for the higher-grade breccia copper and massive sulphide copper samples), the company said. A lower grade breccia copper sample upgraded from 0.59% Cu to 1.05% Cu with 77% Cu recovery and 56% mass rejection, it noted.

“Positive results from ore sorting at Southern Nights and Mallee Bull deposits provide encouragement for the inclusion of this pre-concentration technology into future process plant design and, as a result, Peel has engaged GR Engineering to integrate ore sorting technology into an updated processing plant technical report,” the company said.

Peel’s Executive Director of Mining, Jim Simpson, said: “The completion of the processing plant technical report by mineral processing solutions experts GR Engineering is a critical first step in understanding the potential composition of the milling infrastructure required for the company’s development plans.

“The detail presented in the report by GR is impressive and the report will form the basis for ongoing preliminary studies for the refinement and improvement of the processing plant design as new information comes to hand.

“We are also very pleased with the potential of ore sorting as part of any future South Cobar project hub’s processing route with initial test work pointing to the amenability of both Southern Nights and Mallee Bull mineralisation to separation using 3D-XRT ore-sorting technology, allowing for the simultaneous rejection of barren or waste material whilst retaining the bulk of contained metal, and in the process, upgrading the value of the ore.”

Simpson added: “Apart from reducing the overall feed mass by the rejection of waste at early stage, other benefits of ore sorting include potentially upgrading lower-grade mineralisation and reducing the size of the processing plant offering potentially reduced capital, power, water and tailings storage needs.”

ValeOre Metals considering Platsol, Falcon separator, Steinert ore sorting for Pedra Branca

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ValeOre Metals Corp’s Pedra Branca platinum group element (PGE) project, in north-eastern Brazil, looks increasingly like leveraging the Platsol™ high temperature pressure leaching process judging by the latest test work.

Metallurgical results from sample material collected from outcrops at the Trapia and Curiu deposits areas at Pedra Branca for two preliminary Platsol tests conducted at SGS Lakefield, Ontario, have shown recoveries of 93.4-93.6% for palladium and 95.3-95.7% for platinum were achieved.

The company now plans two additional Platsol tests, to be performed by SGS, to determine the effects of adding elemental sulphur to the autoclave to optimise conditions required for PGE and gold recoveries, it said.

Platsol is a high temperature (>200°C) pressure leaching process designed to recover PGEs, gold and base metals. It has been shown to be particularly effective with PGE ore feeds characterised by high concentrations of chromium and low concentrations of sulphide, much like Pedra Branca, according to ValeOre Metals. The PGEs and gold are solubilised as chloro-complexes by the addition of chloride salt to the autoclave, while base metal sulphides are oxidised to form soluble metal sulphate complexes. The precious metals can be recovered directly from the autoclave discharge slurry by carbon absorption, or by precipitation with sulphide ions.

Platsol consists of standard, proven traditional technologies that are in use in mines around the world, according to the company.

The Platsol tests are part of a comprehensive mineralogical evaluation ongoing at SGS to characterise the speciation of palladium and platinum in Pedra Branca mineralisation to guide future process optimisation initiatives.

As part of this, the company is continuing with Falcon Ultrafine gravity separation test work as a potential pre-concentration circuit to upgrade feed material and improve mass pull.

The company has also initiated hot cyanide leach test work to assess the recovery rates of palladium, platinum and gold in a cyanide leaching process, and will shortly commence shipment of 100 representative chip samples from historic drilling at the Esbarro deposit to Steinert’s facility in Minas Gerais, to evaluate the potential of sensor-based ore sorting test work.

ValOre’s Chairman and CEO, Jim Paterson, said: “The pace of success at Pedra Branca has increased dramatically in the last three months, including today’s release of PGE metallurgical recovery rates of in excess of 93% for palladium and 95% for platinum using the Platsol process.

“Together with an aggressive property-wide exploration program, we are now focused on rapidly optimising the conditions, procedures and processes to further maximise the upside potential of the Pedra Branca project.”

Gowest Gold heads towards production at Bradshaw with help of Steinert XRT ore sorter

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Gowest Gold is expected to make the leap into production shortly at the Bradshaw gold deposit, in Timmins, Ontario, with all permits secured and a Steinert ore sorter commissioned.

In an update this week, the company said it had received official notice from the Ontario’s Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines that its Mine Production Closure Plan had received final review and filing in accordance with the Ontario Mining Act. This plan provides details for how the Bradshaw mine will be operated and closed, and how the site will eventually be reclaimed once mining activities are completed.

With this permit in hand, Gowest says it has now received all environmental approvals required to bring the mine into commercial production.

On top of this, Gowest said its ore sorter has been commissioned in preparation for sorting the mixed development ore currently stockpiled on surface. This material will be trucked to Northern Sun’s Redstone Mill, in accordance with a toll milling arrangement, where processing is scheduled to begin on the week of November 9.

Gowest previously reported that around 28,000 t of gold-bearing mixed development ore had been collected and stockpiled on site from the company’s ongoing advanced exploration bulk sample program. The company also plans to mine around 15,000 t of stope ore as part of the bulk sample.

The company has previously outlined that run of mine ore from Bradshaw will first be crushed and sent through a dual energy X-ray Transmission ore sorting unit supplied by Steinert US. This was expected to “sharply reduce handling costs and increase gold grades of ore sent for processing”, it said. In a recent presentation, the company said this technology could reportedly double the Bradshaw grade up to 10 g/t Au.

As part of its Phase 1 developments at Bradshaw, Gowest is aiming to ramp up to production of 50,000 oz/y.

Northern Minerals lays the groundwork for Steinert XRT ore sorter installation

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Northern Minerals is set to commission a Steinert sensor-based ore sorter for use at its Browns Range rare earth pilot plant, in northern Western Australia, after gaining the relevant regulatory approvals for installation of the machine.

The ore sorting equipment concentrates ore prior to the beneficiation circuit by selecting ore and rejecting waste based on X-ray Transmission. This has the potential to double the feed grade and reduce production costs, according to the company.

Both the Western Australian Office of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation have now cleared the installation and commissioning, with construction commenced on the structural and mechanical equipment (pictured). Commissioning is scheduled for mid-2021.

The total capital investment for the procurement, installation and commissioning of the ore sorter is budgeted at A$5.9 million ($4.3 million), Northern Minerals said.

Previous trials of ore sorting technology at Browns Range, announced in October 2018, identified the potential to double the mill feed grade. This would lead to an increased production rate of heavy rare earth carbonate and a potential lowering of overall operating costs.

Once the ore sorting system is commissioned, Northern Minerals plans to run additional test work at pilot plant scale on all ore types to establish baseline data on feed grade improvements, it said. This work will also help evaluate material flow-through benefits of ore sorting on overall processing efficiencies, feeding into any future commercial, large-scale project feasibility studies at Browns Range.

Northern Minerals says it is also evaluating the economics of further downstream processing options for Browns Range ore.

To date, Browns Range has produced a mixed heavy rare earth carbonate for small-scale export to offtake partners. The options being assessed would take a further step along the supply chain to produce separated heavy rare earth oxides.

The company announced in August 2019 it had commenced a scoping study with US-based K-Technologies Inc to investigate a separation technology on intermediate mixed rare earths materials produced at Browns Range. K-Tech’s technology is focused on continuous ion exchange, continuous ion-chromatography and related advanced separation methodologies.

The study continues to progress well, with positive test results being achieved at K-Tech’s facilities in Florida albeit slower than planned because of constraints associated with COVID-19, Northern Minerals said. However, the company expects to see separated dysprosium and terbium oxides from the study before the end of this year.

Separately to collaborating with K-Tech, Northern Minerals is pursuing studies into traditional solvent extraction to produce oxides from the mixed heavy rare earth material produced at Browns Range.

Northern Minerals CEO, Mark Tory, said: “With approvals in place for the ore sorter and installation now under way, we will be in a strong position to thoroughly evaluate the flow-through benefits of that technology at a pilot plant scale.

“The results will provide a valuable input into future feasibility studies to assess the commercial viability of a large-scale heavy rare earths mining and processing operation at Browns Range.

“In addition to our investment in ore sorting to improve the mill feed grade, we are also committed to assessing opportunities to further unlock value at Browns Range through downstream processing to oxide products, which opens up a wider field of offtake and future project financing opportunities.”

Northern Minerals started producing rare earth carbonate through the Browns Range pilot plant in October 2018 as part of a three-year pilot assessment of economic and temporarily technical feasibility of a larger scale development at Browns Range.