Alexander Mining PLC Research and Development Update (8683K)
December 18 2018 - 8:34AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMAXM
RNS Number : 8683K
Alexander Mining PLC
18 December 2018
18 December 2018
Alexander Mining plc
("Alexander" or the "Company")
Research and Development Activities Update
Alexander is pleased to provide this update on its research and
development activities.
Lithium joint venture
The preliminary stages of the lithium heap leaching JV with
Alexander's Principal Technological Consultant, Dr. Nicholas
Welham, have shown promising results. Consequently, it has been
agreed that a further larger scale batch of testwork is required in
order to generate sufficient data to allow the process to be
audited by Wardell Armstrong International.
The work will be undertaken at a higher education establishment
in Perth, Western Australia under Dr. Welham's supervision, with
all materials being analysed at a local laboratory. The final round
of work, which is scheduled to start in early January, is expected
to take around three months.
HyperLeach(R) - copper
HyperLeach(R) testwork on two low grade copper sulphide ore
samples has shown highly promising potential for the application of
HyperLeach(R) to heap leaching and in-situ leaching. The
HyperLeach(TM) reagent has been found to rapidly oxidise
chalcopyrite (the main copper sulphide mineral and source of the
majority of the world's mined copper production) and bornite from
low grade ore. Unlike many proposed reagents for heap leach or in
situ leaching, the initial HyperLeach(R) solution does not appear
to react significantly with the common gangue (waste) minerals. The
selectivity to sulphides is anticipated to reduce the reagent
consumption compared to other acid-based systems. The acid
generated during HyperLeach(R) has been shown to react with the
gangue raising the pH and leading to precipitation of unwanted
elements, such as iron and aluminium, simplifying the separation
and recovery of the copper.
The increasing use of renewable energy on mine sites is also a
significant factor for HyperLeach(R) as the reagent can be
generated electrochemically. As the unit cost of power decreases,
the cost of using HyperLeach(R) will also decrease. Further
testwork in the New Year is aimed at examining the economics of the
process. Alexander has been in contact with the provider of the
samples tested as a potential industrial partner which may wish to
fund further development of the in-situ HyperLeach(R) process for
copper ores.
HyperLeach(R) - nickel and cobalt
Work on the leaching of nickel and cobalt flotation tailings in
order to produce high purity battery feedstocks has continued.
Samples of fresh and historic tailings have been received and some
preliminary work undertaken to assess their amenability to
HyperLeach(R). Initial results show some parallels with the copper
work, with rapid reactivity of the minerals within the tailings and
an acid consuming gangue mineralogy which appears to preclude
alternative hydrometallurgical processes.
Further work is scheduled to start early in the New Year to
optimise further the process and understand the major factors
involved in the leaching. After optimisation of the leach, a
large-scale run will be undertaken to generate sufficient solution
to allow the investigation of the separation of the nickel and
cobalt prior to production of their sulphate salts. The
demonstration of an economic route from low grade tailings bodes
well for a heap leach process for ore too low in nickel/cobalt to
warrant processing by crushing, grinding and flotation. Potential
partners are being sought to move this work to larger scale.
Notes
HyperLeach(R) Process
MetaLeach's HyperLeach(R) process, although less advanced in its
commercialisation progress than AmmLeach(R), has very significant
potential for application. HyperLeach(R) is a hydrometallurgical
process which has been developed by MetaLeach for the extraction of
metals, especially copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum and
rhenium from sulphide ore deposits and concentrates.
The process utilises chlorine-based chemistry to solubilise
metals from ores under ambient temperature and pressure conditions.
The HyperLeach(R) process can be operated as either heap leach or
tank leach.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Martin Rosser
Chief Executive
Mobile: +44 (0) 7770 865 341
Alexander Mining plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7078 9566
Email: mail@alexandermining.com
Website: www.alexandermining.com
Northland Capital Partners Limited
Matthew Johnson / Dugald J Carlean
(Corporate Finance)
Abigail Wayne (Corporate Broking)
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3861 6625
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd.
Andy Thacker
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3621 4120
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END
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