VANCOUVER, Oct. 5, 2015 /CNW/ - Commerce Resources
Corp. (TSXv: CCE, FSE: D7H, OTCQX: CMRZF) (the "Company" or
"Commerce") is pleased to announce the achievement of key
metallurgical milestones with the successful completion of a leach
mini-pilot plant1 and the subsequent production of the
highest-grade mineral concentrate to date from the Company's 100%
owned Ashram Rare Earth Deposit.
The work was completed as part of the 2nd Phase of
the pilot plant, designed to leach bulk flotation concentrate
produced during the first phase of the pilot plant. Both continuous
and batch leach pilots have now been completed, as well as bench
scale testing of the piloted material through to a final mineral
concentrate to demonstrate the robustness of the entire
process.
Highlights include:
- Successful demonstration that the leach process is robust and
scalable from bench level (<4 kg) to pilot level (>300 kg)
using both continuous and batch methods
- Production of a 49% TREO mineral concentrate at an overall
recovery of ~63% using residue produced from the leach pilot
- 46% TREO at ~71% recovery with additional processing
Company President Chris Grove
states, "We are highly encouraged by these results from the
2nd Phase of the pilot plant program. The production of
these high-grade mineral concentrates using piloted material as
feed is a significant milestone, with the ongoing program
continuing to demonstrate that the flowsheet for the Ashram Deposit
is simple, robust, and scalable using standard commercial
methods."
The main objective of the continuous pilot is to demonstrate the
leach process (using HCl) on a continuous and scaled up basis
(<4 kg to >150 kg) to evaluate material handling and
performance in a manner similar to a commercial operation. The
objective of the batch leach pilot is to demonstrate additional
scale up (<4 kg to >300 kg) and to produce larger quantities
of leach residue at the defined parameters.
The continuous leach pilot was comprised of a series of eight
glass cascading vessels that was fed flotation concentrate
continuously (154 kg total) for a period of 145 hours, producing 47
kg of primary leach residue. The batch leach pilot was comprised of
one large vat that was fed flotation concentrate in one single dose
(i.e. batch) of 307 kg, producing 100 kg of primary leach residue.
A secondary leach was completed on the batch pilot residue with the
combined overall REE recovery exceeding 99%2, as
targeted.
In order to fully evaluate the quality of the residues produced
from the leach pilot plant, several samples were bench processed
through the Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) stage to
produce a final mineral concentrate to use for downstream
hydrometallurgical processing. This testwork produced the best
mineral concentrate to date for the Ashram Deposit, with potential
for additional improvement remaining (Table 1).
Table 1. High-grade mineral concentrate produced from
leach pilot residue (Test 3889-13)
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|
|
|
|
|
Grade
(TREO)
|
Recovery
(relative to WHIMS
stage)
|
Recovery2
(relative to whole
rock)
|
Mass
Pull
(relative to whole
rock)
|
WHIMS
Process
|
|
48.9
|
78%
|
~63%
|
~3%
|
1 Rougher
|
|
45.7
|
88%
|
~71%
|
~3%
|
1 Rougher + 2
Scavengers
|
The pilot plant results to date (flotation and leach) are
encouraging and indicate that the Ashram flowsheet is robust at
larger scales and is able to produce rare earth mineral concentrate
of >45% TREO at high overall recovery. This compares favorably
to major hard-rock producers globally.
The 2nd phase of the pilot plant is ongoing, with the
opportunity to further optimize as additional flotation concentrate
remains to be processed. This pilot plant is part of a larger
program to confirm the scalability of the overall flowsheet and
produce several kilograms of mixed rare earth carbonate concentrate
(REC), and mixed rare earth chloride concentrate (RECl).
|
(1)
|
Approximately 1-2
tonnes of flotation concentrate is anticipated to be processed
during the HCl leach piloting. This size throughput tonnage is
sometimes referred to as a 'mini-pilot plant' as opposed to a
'pilot plant'.
|
|
(2)
|
The secondary leach
results in a minor percentage of REE partitioning to the liquor
phase. However, subsequent testing on similar liquors indicates
that the REEs may be fully recovered selectively as a high-grade
precipitate, resulting in a negligible loss in the stage (i.e.
effectively >99% REE recovery in the leach stage)
|
NI 43-101 Disclosure
Darren L.
Smith, M.Sc., P.Geol., Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd.,
a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101,
supervised the preparation of the technical information in this
news release.
Eric Larochelle, Eng., and Alain Dorval, Eng., Manager-Process,
Mining and Mineral Processing, of Roche Ltd., Consulting Group,
Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101,
reviewed the technical information presented in this news
release.
About the Ashram Rare Earth Element Deposit
The Ashram
Rare Earth Element (REE) Deposit is located in north-eastern
Quebec. The Deposit has a measured
resource of 1.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.77% TREO, an indicated
resource of 27.7 Mt at 1.90% TREO, and an inferred resource of
219.8 Mt at 1.88% TREO.
The REEs at Ashram occur primarily in the mineral monazite and
to a lesser extent in bastnaesite and xenotime. These minerals
dominate the currently known commercial extraction processes for
rare earths. The Ashram Deposit mineralization has an REE
distribution with enrichment in the critical and magnet feed REEs
(Nd, Pr, Eu, Tb, Dy, and Y).
A Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was completed in May of
2012 by SGS-Geostat of Montreal
(Blainville) (see news release
May 24, 2012). The PEA is based on a
4,000 tonne per day open-pit operation with an initial 25-year mine
life, a pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of $2.32 billion at a 10% discount rate, a
pre-tax/pre-finance Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 44%, and a
pre-tax/pre-finance payback period of 2.25 years.
The PEA (revised date January 7,
2015) is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred
mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically
to have the economic considerations applied to them that would
enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no
certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources are not
mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic
viability. The current Ashram Technical Report dated January 7, 2015 explains why no after-tax case is
included, and that a combined tax rate of around 32.5% may apply to
production.
With respect to the ongoing Pre-feasibility Study (PFS), the
results of the programs described in this news release will be
incorporated, along with other necessary technical data including
geological and engineering studies, into the PFS with costs and
benefits to be described in more detail therein.
About Commerce Resources Corp.
Commerce Resources
Corp. is an exploration and development company with a particular
focus on deposits of rare metals and rare earth elements. The
Company is focused on the development of its Ashram Rare Earth
Element Deposit in Quebec and the
Upper Fir Tantalum and Niobium Deposit in British Columbia.
For more information please visit the corporate website at
http://www.commerceresources.com or contact Investor Relations at
604.484.2700 or info@commerceresources.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP.
"Chris Grove"
Chris
Grove
President
Tel: 604.484.2700
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains
forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks
and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events
or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. Forward looking statements in this press release
include and are not limited to, that the leach process is robust
and scalable from the bench level to the pilot level using
continuous and bench methods. These forward-looking
statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and
other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking
information. Risks that could change or prevent these
statements from coming to fruition include changing costs for
mining and processing; increased capital costs; the timing and
content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations based
on current data that may change with more detailed information;
potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumption based
on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered
analogous deposits that with further test work may not be
comparable; the availability of labour, equipment and markets for
the products produced; and despite the current expected viability
of the project, conditions changing such that the minerals on our
property cannot be economically mined, or that the required permits
to build and operate the envisaged mine can be obtained. The
forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the
date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or
revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances,
except as required by law.
SOURCE Commerce Resources Corp.
