Mawson Gold Limited (TSE:MAW) (OTCPINK:MWSNF) (FRA:MXR) has said it is to receive C$590,000 (€397,000) as part of a C$1.2 million (€795,000) funding package from the Finland-based Circular Ecosystem of Battery Metals (BATCircle2.0) to help to ensure its Rajapalot gold-cobalt project becomes a significant Finnish, and European, raw material supplier to the battery metals industry.
The project contains nickel, copper and tungsten, as well as gold and cobalt and the focus for many such Finnish polymetallic deposits has been to optimise gold returns over other metals.
Losing battery and critical metals to tailings is a poor outcome for Finland and a circular low-carbon economy, pointed out Mawson.
READ: Mawson Gold hails results of geometallurgical testing by BATCircle project at Rajapalot
The BATCircle2.0 funding news builds on the work of BATCircle, which, as reported earlier in June, which provided the 'most comprehensive' metallurgical studies at Rajapalot to date, showing excellent gold recoveries but also a viable method to obtain industrial acceptable recoveries for cobalt.
Mawson will now, in conjunction with the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) and Aalto University, and the University of Oulu and Finnish specialist consultants, continue to advance the work. The main aims are:
- Optimise enhanced gravity streams for cobalt and gold separation
- Efficiently separate gold and cobalt/sulphide concentrate streams
- Add understanding of optimal conditions for flotation of cobaltite
- Study leaching of non-cobaltite concentrate residues
- Investigate on-site cobalt metal or salt production
- Reduce acid production in tailings and carbon capture using Mg-rich waste in tailings
- Enhance circular battery economy by integrating project results into the economics of recovery of nickel and cobalt from sulphide concentrates.
"We are again thankful that Business Finland has chosen to continue to support Mawson in our pursuit to become a significant Finnish (and European) raw material battery-metal supplier from our 100%-owned Rajapalot project, which is already 7th largest European cobalt resource," said Mike Hudson, the CEO of Mawson, in a statement.
"The battery supply chain, through to the customer, is demanding sustainable and ethically sourced metals and minerals, and the Finnish ability to deliver against these demands, via projects such as Rajapalot, is a unique and competitive advantage. A key to the successful extraction of our battery and critical metals will be a positive net return."
The BATCircle2.0 consortium has been granted €10.8 million by Business Finland as part of a total funding budget of €19.3 million. BATCircle2.0 is a key project in Business Finland`s Smart Mobility and Batteries from Finland programs.
Mawson's Rajapalot property sits in Finnish Lapland, just south of the arctic circle, where both high-grade gold and cobalt have been discovered over a camp-scale area of more than 10 square kilometres. The company also holds gold assets in Australia.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com