MinRex sees potential for standalone scandium mine in NSW
MinRex Resources Limited (ASX: MRR) thismorning updated shareholders on the pre-acquisition due diligence that'scurrently underway on the Pacific Express project in NSW.
MRR assessed the extent of scandiummineralisation at the project in more detail, especially the prospect ofdeveloping a potential standalone deposit at the Houston Mitchell prospect,following the discovery of legacy metallurgical reports from circa 20 yearsago.
Whist reviewing the historical tenurereports related to the Pacific Express project, the geology team foundextensive legacy metallurgical studies based on test-work from threelaboratories that utilised different techniques and generated varying results.
The test-work aimed to identify preliminaryphysical separation methods for ore to materially increase the head gradewhich, in turn, would reduce the volume of material to be processed whileenriching the mineral fed into the proposed processing plants to extractscandium, cobalt and nickel.
It also aimed to vary chemical extractionmethods to pin-point which technique resulted in recovering the highestproportions of scandium, cobalt and nickel, to enhance efficiency and maximiserecovery.
Of course, as with all mineralsexploration, success is not guaranteed - consider your own personalcircumstances before investing, and seek professional financial advice.
Get the latest articles straight to your inboxkeep me postedAll up, four rounds of metallurgical testswere conducted. The key finding were summarised as follows:
HoustonMitchell prospect samples (within Pacific Expressproject)
Testing completed on ahigh-grade sample (60ppm Sc) to assess the recovery of scandium withencouraging early recovery results of up to 70%.Based on these results, theview from the metallurgy report at the time was the Houston Mitchell prospecthad the potential to be developed into a standalone scandium deposit.
MRR's geology team arecurrently evaluating occurrences of scandium-rich material. This potentiallycould result in scandium-rich mineral resources being defined separately tonickel-cobalt ones which dominate throughout the tenure.
Further, the geology team haveobserved that scandium is enriched nearer to surface, while cobalt-nickelmineralisation is deeper within the laterite.
Moving forward, the geologyteam aim to identify potential stand-alone scandium mineralised zones, whichmay partially or completely overlie deeper cobalt-nickel mineralised zones inthe laterite.
Hurll'sHill prospect samples (outside Pacific Expressproject)
Possibility of increasing thehead grade up to 4,500ppm cobalt by screening to separate by sizing the upperlimonitic zone and rejecting the marginal ore to waste. MRR's geology teamconsider prospects identified within the tenure to have the potential to besimilarly upgraded though future exploration and bulk sampling.Chemical extractions of metalsvaried vertically and ranged up to 96% for cobalt and 94% for nickel.
A technical observation fromthe time is that Hurll's Hill has significant potential to be developed into amajor scandium, cobalt, and nickel laterite project.
Pre-selected targets within thePacific Express project have similar geology to Hurll's Hill, which indicatethere is potential exploration upside to evaluate the prospects with modernexploration and assay methods.
The next step at the Houston Mitchellprospect is for external consultants to thoroughly review all legacymetallurgical data and test-work then summarise key findings. This projectknowledge can materially aid fast-tracking future mining studies.
Any incremental metallurgical testing will nowapply modern testing techniques to ensure maximum metal recovery from futurelateritic exploration and/or bulk samples to boost confidence a potentialviable standalone scandium deposit can be developed.
MRR will also begin modelling legacy datato ascertain if a Mineral Resource can be estimated for scandium-cobalt-nickeland reported to the JORC (2012) code.
MRR Executive Director, Simon Durack said:"Clearly, the due diligence team have uncovered a prospective game-changer forthe Pacific Express project, with legacy metallurgical test-work verifying thepotential to develop a standalone scandium deposit. Moreover, it is pleasing tonote Boeing's early interest in scandium alloys, as the future take-up ratefrom the aviation industry is set to grow materially over the next two decades.While the Board looks forward to receiving the geology team's final report andrecommendation, the legacy metallurgical evidence clearly confirms there ismaterial exploration upside for the Pacific Express project."