Terra Metals Ltd says Phase 1 metallurgical testwork shows the potential of the Dante Reefs to produce three high-grade concentrates using simple and low-cost processing techniques from representative samples at the company’s Dante Project in Western Australia.
The company says the Dante Reefs has the potential to be a globally significant source of a range of commercially attractive products.
Excellent recovery rates
High-grade concentrates produced with excellent recovery rates using simple, low-cost processing techniques.
Initial test work completed on representative composite samples from diamond drilling at Dante Reefs.
Three separate high-grade mineral concentrates were successfully produced during testing.
Copper-gold-platinum group metals (Cu-Au-PGM) sulphide concentrate
- a high-quality concentrate was produced containing 28.0% copper, 17 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, and 21.4 g/t platinum group metals (PGM);
- the metal recovery rates were strong, with 95.8% of copper, 75.8% of gold and 74.4% of platinum group metals recovered; and
- these results confirm the potential to supply a premium copper-gold-PGM product to the market.
Vanadium-magnetite concentrate
- a concentrate grading 1.81% vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) was produced using low-cost magnetic separation;
- the process achieved a high vanadium recovery rate of 90.9%; and
- this grade is higher than that of leading ASX-listed vanadium projects and could support the production of high-purity vanadium pentoxide flake.
Titanium-ilmenite concentrate
- a high-purity concentrate grading 40% titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was also produced using magnetic separation;
- the grade exceeds those typically achieved by leading hard rock ilmenite concentrate producers;
- a strong recovery rate of 65.6% TiO₂ was achieved; and
- further metallurgical testing (Phase 2) is planned to optimise processing, concentrate grades and recovery rates.
“These preliminary results are extremely encouraging and suggest the Dante Reefs has potential to produce multiple commercial concentrate products using low-cost and simple processing techniques,” principal metallurgist Dr Evan Kirby said.
“The mineralogy has favourable properties compared to some other known deposits in production.
Globally significant
“The initial results demonstrate a potential pathway to produce a high-grade saleable copper-precious metal sulphide concentrate, a high-grade vanadium concentrate suitable for producing high-purity vanadium pentoxide flake and a high-quality commercial titanium-ilmenite concentrate, using simple and low-cost processing methods.
“Given these initial promising results, and the size of the Dante Reefs discovery defined thus far by exploration drilling, the Dante Reefs has potential to be a globally significant and highly competitive source of a range of commercially attractive products.”
Managing director and CEO Thomas Line said: “This is a major milestone in the project’s development.
“The metallurgical results demonstrate the economic potential of the project, highlighting the potential for the Dante Reefs to produce copper, gold, platinum, titanium and vanadium products.
“We have systematically approached the development and assessment of the Dante Reefs since the initial discovery was made last year.
“We will continue our systematic development of the deposit, including Phase 2 optimisation testwork and delineation of a maiden resource. Given the large amount of work undertaken last year, we believe we can achieve these next major milestones cost-effectively with modest further investment.”