Fireweed Metals Corp (TSX-V:FWZ, OTCQB:FWEDF) has announced results of the first metallurgical and ore-sorting test work from the Boundary Zone, what the company calls an emerging zinc discovery at its Macmillan Pass project in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
The mineral exploration firm said highlights of the test work include open circuit cleaner flotation tests that show up to 97% zinc recovery; zinc concentrates that show high grades ranging from 53% to 63% zinc; a coarse grind size that yields excellent recovery - with up to 99% in rougher tests; and the presence of critical minerals zinc, germanium, and gallium in concentrates.
“The coarse nature of the sphalerite means that a relatively coarse grind size is all that is needed to produce a high-grade zinc concentrate with high recoveries,” Fireweed Metals CEO Brandon Macdonald said in a statement.
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“We have shown that Boundary Zone, like Tom and Jason, can produce high-quality zinc concentrates that we anticipate would be attractive to global markets,” Macdonald added.
Fireweed noted that high concentrations of germanium and moderate concentrations of gallium in the zinc concentrates highlight the potential for recovery of these critical metals as by-products during the zinc smelting process, which it says elevates the potential of the Macmillan Pass project to be one of Canada’s leading critical minerals projects.
As well, the company said selective use of ore sorting only on low-grade material shows promising results for potentially increasing feed grades, decreasing processing costs, and reducing tailings volumes whilst preserving the value in the abundant high-grade zones at Boundary.
It added that further test work is required to fully evaluate the variability across Boundary Zone and assess whether the metallurgical behaviour throughout each domain is consistent.
Fireweeds Metals is a mineral exploration company on the leading edge of critical minerals project development with three projects located in northern Canada.
The company’s project portfolio includes the Macmillan Pass zinc-lead-silver project in the Yukon and a pending acquisition on the adjacent Mactung tungsten project, as well as the Gayna River zinc-gallium-germanium project, also in the Yukon.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com