Black Canyon (ASX:BCA) has completed benchtop scale beneficiation testwork on composite reverse circulation drill chip samples from the W2 prospect at the Wandanya Project.
The testwork demonstrates substantial uplifts from composite feed grades of 21.2% and 41.5% manganese to concentrate grades well above the premium 44% oxide benchmark grade for both the moderate and higher-grade feed samples.
The laboratory testwork used HLS techniques as a proxy for widely used, industry based dense media separation (DMS).
Black Canyon says there is potential to produce high-quality manganese concentrate after completing a benchtop scale beneficiation testwork program within the Wandanya Project in Western Australia.
The initial results have provided Black Canyon with confidence to the amenability of the Wandanya manganese discovery to simple beneficiation and an indication of potential manganese concentrate grades and recoveries.
Overall concentrate grades ranged between 50% and 48% manganese with 68% to 76% recoveries respectively, when combining the moderate and higher grade composite results.
Black Canyon, which has a market capitalisation of $7.21 million, says the initial sighter level metallurgical tests provide a positive insight to the beneficiation characteristics of the manganese mineralisation discovered at Wandanya.
Managing Director Brendan Cummins says the style of manganese mineralisation discovered lends itself to the application of density-based beneficiation techniques with manganese minerals being denser than the less dense dolomite host rocks.
“The testwork confirmed our expectation that the mineralisation would beneficiate in a similar manner to the hydrothermal ores processed at Woodie Woodie and demonstrates the potential to produce a high-quality manganese concentrate for the silico and ferro alloying industry and as feedstock for high-purity manganese sulphate,” Cummins says.
“We continue to learn more about the W2 manganese prospect with these additional layers of analysis and we are quickly building a greater understanding of the prospect’s potential.
“My main conclusion to date has been the simplicity of the geology, with shallow high-grade mineralisation and now we have demonstrated how readily the manganese can be upgraded using a simple and established density-based process.”
With the testwork completed, Black Canyon notes the parameters can now be used for further testwork which will rely on reverse circulation drill chips. In the future, the company intends to conduct a diamond drilling program.
Black Canyon plans to drill further along strike and down dip at Wandanya to show scale and continuity for the manganese and drill test the high-grade iron targets identified up dip from the stratabound manganese.
The company is evaluating upstream processing of manganese ores from its East Pilbara projects to produce battery grade high purity manganese sulphate for EV lithium-ion batteries.
High purity manganese products are essential materials needed by Europe’s fast-growing EV and lithium-ion battery industries.
Cummins tells Mining.com.au he expects the market to likely remain in an oversupply or balanced state through 2025-2026. However, he notes by the late 2020s, especially if supply struggles to meet growing long-term demand through mine closures and/or supply chain challenges, the market could see a shift into a deficit, which would likely lead to price increases.
Disruptions are already starting to impact the market, with 2024 witnessing the suspension of a number of operations around the world.
Black Canyon is a junior mineral explorer focused on its project portfolio which extends over 2,100km2 and contains several near term development deposits in Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Black Canyon
