Astute Metals (ASX:ASE) has received beneficiation testwork results which strengthen the commercial development potential of the Red Mountain Project in Nevada, US.
A phase two Falcon beneficiation testwork program was conducted, designed to concentrate lithium-bearing clay and remove unmineralised waste to decrease mass and increase lithium grade.
The program used high-clay drill core samples from drillhole RMDD002, which intersected 86.9m @ 1,470 parts per million (ppm) lithium from 18.3m.
Astute, which has a market capitalisation of $13.6 million, says the latest results indicate a strong ability to upgrade mineralisation, achieving a reduction of sample mass by 51.8% with a concurrent increase in lithium grade of 38% — from 3,245 to 4,481ppm lithium — with an overall 66.6% lithium recovery.
The company has commissioned another method of beneficiation dubbed Attrition Scrubbing testwork, for comparison with the Falcon results.
Upon completion, sample products from both tests will be assessed for acid consumption in future leachability tests.
Chairman Tony Leibowitz says the demonstration of a commercial pathway to a lithium product is the natural complement to establish a resource.
“It is for this reason that Astute has actively advanced workflows for both exploration drilling and metallurgical testing at Red Mountain, in tandem,” Leibowitz says.
“These positive results, which reinforce the previous results from the project, represent the systematic de-risking of what continues to emerge as an important US-based critical metals project.”
The Red Mountain Project lies in central-eastern Nevada, US, adjacent to the Grand Army of the Republic Highway. The project area has broad mapped tertiary lake sedimentary rocks known as the Horse Camp Formation.
Astute Metals is a diversified mineral explorer focused on discovering and developing critical mineral deposits, primarily focusing on lithium and copper.
Global lithium demand is forecast to rise by roughly 13% annually to 2030, as policy settings and improving technology drives rising EV adoption and battery energy storage system (BESS) deployment.
Electric trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles are expected to represent a growing share of global lithium demand over the outlook period. In China, electric truck sales rose by close to 150% in 2024 following extensive deployment of comparable battery swapping technology and infrastructure. China made up about 70% of global electric truck sales in 2023 according to estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Astute Metals & Unsplash
