Doubleview Gold Corp (TSX-V:DBG, OTCQB:DBLVF) said that scandium recoveries of up to 90% will ultimately be achievable with process development at the HAT deposit in the company’s Hat copper-gold-cobalt property in the Golden Triangle region of the Atlin mining district, in northern British Columbia.
On February 7, The Vancouver-based mineral resource exploration company revealed that its first attempt at recovering scandium in a sequential purification process had recovered 56% of scandium in tailings from the Hat deposit.
In an update, Doubleview shared more information on the significance of achieving 56% scandium (Sc) recovery as a scandium phosphate precipitate, in its first attempt at sequential purification of HAT deposit flotation tailings.
READ: Doubleview recovers 56% scandium in first attempt at Hat project in British Columbia
The firm said initial independent lab tests completed by Coffey, Tetra Tech were designed to demonstrate the validity of the underlying process chemistry. Achieving 56% scandium recovery shows that primarily, the response to the treatment program was “as anticipated,” added Doubleview.
Significantly, Doubleview noted that its expectations are that “scandium recoveries in the range of 80% to 90% will ultimately be achievable with further process development and optimization.”
Production of a phosphate lends itself to the solution purification scheme currently under test. Once recovered, scandium can be converted to other forms. Alternative treatment strategies are also being considered, said Doubleview.
In a statement, Andrew Carter of Coffey, Tetra Tech said: "Even at moderate recoveries, the HAT deposit has the potential to meet international demand for scandium for the foreseeable future.”
“As scandium is a by-product of a waste stream, recovery is not the fundamental driver, cost is. If it can be demonstrated that scandium can be recovered at an acceptable cost, then scandium has the potential to add significant value to the HAT deposit.”
Carter said a techno-economic evaluation for the production of scandium as a by-product of HAT copper-gold production will be evaluated after the completion of the test work phase.
"Reported recovery rates for other projects, either in planning or under development, are 76.2% at the Flemington project on the low end, and 88% at the Syerston project on the upper end,” noted Carter. “This positions the potential for Doubleview's HAT deposit favorably as it is targeting an 80-90% recovery rate.”
Unique rare earth metal
Meanwhile, Doubleview CEO Farshad Shirvani said that research has shown, that scandium is “a unique metal” which, when combined with certain other metals, “significantly enhances” the strength of the alloy while also “reducing its weight.”
“This results in lighter and stronger materials that can potentially be essential for a wide range of products where efficiency is crucial,” added Shirvani. “The HAT property is among the few mineral bodies in North America that contain significant amount of scandium."
Scandium is linked to crustal rocks and mafic and ultra-mafic lithologies such as amphiboles and pyroxenes, so it's associated with the tails stream of a conventional copper flotation process employed in the treatment of a porphyry ore.
In a fully integrated process, the HAT deposit could produce a high-gold, low-cobalt copper concentrate and a low-gold, high-cobalt pyrite concentrate, said the company. The pyrite concentrate could be used to produce acid for the recovery of cobalt from roaster calcines and scandium from flotation tails, concluded the company.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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