Neometals Ltd (ASX:NMT) has received positive results from its initial metallurgical test work program at one of the top metallurgical institutes in China.
Test work on a 20-kilogram sample from the Barrambie Titanium Vanadium deposit in Western Australia recovered over 90% titanium dioxide.
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Neometals’ managing director Chris Reed said: “We are pleased with these initial results which confirm a simple process flowsheet can recover a high- purity titanium product for potential users of the phase I Barrambie DSO operation.
“Barrambie is a unique tier 1 project that offers a range of development alternatives including the possibility for separate titanium and vanadium operations in due course.
“The results establish the potential value‐in‐use of DSO for negotiations with potential customers who seek quality feedstocks from low‐risk jurisdictions that are amenable to simple and conventional processing."
The sample was put through a standard flow sheet to produce a mixed mineral concentrate.
Smelting and slag cleaning was then used to produce a titanium dioxide product and vanadium pentoxide product.
Neometals is investigating direct shipping ore (DSO) being toll beneficiated and smelted in China as a phase I operation with a parallel phase II development utilising on‐site processing options.
Barrambie is one of the world’s highest grade hard rock titanium deposits and hosts significant levels of high-grade vanadium.