Talon Metals Corp (TSE:TLO) (OTCMKTS:TLOFF) released new details about the metallurgy of its Tamarack project that increases throughput and extends the mine life of the polymetallic orebody.
A preliminary economic assessment from March 2020, which included 4.9 million tonnes of material in the mine plan, excluded 3.1 million tonnes of additional material as Talon was in the midst of developing a representative flowsheet.
In the interim, Talon completed flowsheet development that indicated flotation sensitivity was unaffected by the additional material. The company is now progressing with an updated mine plan and economic analysis to reflect the positive results, it told shareholders Wednesday.
READ: Talon Metals set for geophysical work at Tamarack to identify more high grade targets outside the current resource
Since March, flotation optimization has been conducted on a composite sample grading 1.6% nickel and 1% copper, which is considered representative of Tamarack’s mineralization.
Based upon the test results, Talon said it is “optimistic” that the large body of mineralization above the high-grade massive sulphide unit – the 138 Zone – can be included in future mine plans.
The metallurgical performance of the Tamarack mineralization “continues to excite," said Oliver Peters, Talon's metallurgical consultant.
"A simplified flowsheet has now been developed to treat the entire resource from the Tamarack project. Results are excellent and most certainly better than expected.”
Talon CEO Henri van Rooyen reminded investors of the company’s vision to become a North American producer of nickel sulphates or precursor, which are key inputs into lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.
“We are rapidly moving towards the realization of this vision," van Rooyen said in a statement Wednesday.
Talon is currently conducting a Locked Cycle Test to try and use the concentrates to start downstream flowsheet development in the hopes of establishing an integrated nickel sulphate complex in Minnesota, where Tamarack is located.
New drill results
The company also released new drill results from four holes on the 138 Zone that it said are “in line with the company’s resource model.”
Highlights from the results include drill hole 12TK0153C, which intersected 33 meters of disseminated sulphides grading 0.6% nickel, 0.4% copper, 0.02% cobalt, 0.1 grams per ton (g/t) palladium, 0.1 g/t platinum and 0.1 g/t gold starting at 426 meters. Other holes returned similar results.
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