Eclipse Metals Ltd (ASX:EPM) has delineated previously unknown shallow manganese mineralisation at Amamoor prospect within the Mary Valley Manganese Project in Queensland.
Best intersections include:
- 1.5 metres at 42.14% manganese oxide from surface and 1-metre at 26.85% from 13.98 metres in ADD008A; and
- 1 metre at 33.81% from surface in ADD009.
The bulk of manganese mineralisation intersected was encountered near-surface with mineralisation open in both directions along strike and down dip from the historically mined areas.
“Delineating more manganese mineralisation”
Eclipse Metals chairman Carl Popal said: “We are pleased to see another exploration success at Amamoor.
“The company’s mission since its inception has been to increase shareholder wealth through capital growth.
“Eclipse Metals has been fortunate to have a diverse portfolio of tenements and developing the projects is the primary focus for our technical team.
“This approach has again achieved great results in delineating more manganese mineralisation at the company’s Amamoor project.”
Shares have been as much as 30% higher today to 1.1 cents.
Beneficiation test-work
The next phase of exploration will include collection of a bulk sample of manganese mineralisation from the Central area of old workings for metallurgical and beneficiation test-work.
Beneficiation is regularly accomplished by application of basic, non-chemical processes such as simple crushing, wet scrubbing, screening, heavy-media gravity separation, magnetic separation (depending on the ore type) and/or ore-sorting procedures to produce a high-grade concentrate.
Raw feed with a bulk grade of only 7 to 10% MnO may be upgraded to 35 or 40% MnO by such processes, providing a readily marketable product.
The ability to easily upgrade manganese ores facilitates adoption of larger-scale bulk mining procedures instead of selective mining which limits the potential mineable resource is the company’s main goal.
“Near-term producer”
Popal said: “Eclipse is well focused on growth in metals required by the green energy sector and is looking for global opportunities to complement its Australian projects.
“We are now intent on developing the company into a near term producer which will complement the outstanding project portfolio towards more capital growth.
“The global environment is warming up climatically and in terms of commerce which is demanding a more innovative approach to mineral resource development.
“While the uranium market is proving to be more static than some of the other commodities, Eclipse’s share price has witnessed a significant uplift by having a diverse portfolio of assets focused on green energy metals during these exceptional times.”