Q2 Metals (TSX-V:QTWO) has achieved up to 74.1% recovery to produce 5.69% lithium oxide with 0.42% iron oxide at composite 18 in its heavy liquid separation (HLS) testing from the Cisco Lithium Project in Québec.
Other composites returned a 71.6% recovery for 5.6% lithium oxide with 0.46% iron oxide at composite 23, and a 69.6% recovery for 5.08% lithium oxide with 0.55% iron oxide at composite 21.
Samples were gathered along a 43m continuous strike of mineralisation, blending material from each composite ahead of testing.
To test the suitability of a dense media separation (DMS) process, the company crushed a 5kg subset of the material to -9.5mm and -6.3mm, which returned as the optimal crush size.
Q2 Metals nominated SGS Canada to conduct the metallurgical test program for the Cisco Project at the Québec City laboratory.
Vice President of Exploration Neil McCallum says this first round of metallurgical testing confirms the suitability of a DMS process for the Cisco Project.
“Magnetic or floatation treatments were not utilised in this round due to the success of the HLS tests,” McCallum says.
“The strong recovery combined with low iron content are the highlights so far. The next phase of metallurgy test work will be designed to expand upon these positive results and to maximise the concentrate grade and recovery rates at increased scale.”
SGS will continue testwork of the samples, looking into the necessity of magnetic separation in relation to treating wall-rock in the processing stream.
Further testing also intends to uncover the opportunity to boost recovery for the finer material and rejected middlings found in the DMS circuit for a potential floatation circuit.
Q2 Metals will continue to conduct HMS testwork at the Cisco Project, locating untouched areas of the main mineralised zone, with intention of confirming recoveries in other regions.
Q2 Metals is a Canadian mineral explorer focused on the development of its Cisco Lithium Project, located in the Nemaska traditional territory in Québec.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Q2 Metals
