Junior explorer Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) has appointed Minsol Engineering as the lead metallurgical and engineering consultant for the Kangaroo Hills Lithium Project in Western Australia.
The company reports Minsol Principal and Process Manager Robert Simmons will manage the metallurgical and mineralogical testwork at the project. Simmons has a ‘successful’ track record over the last 15 years in metallurgical testwork, flow sheet development, detailed design, and implementation for major lithium projects.
The early-stage testwork will be conducted on diamond core samples recently collected at Kangaroo Hills that intercepted a spodumene-dominant pegmatite identified in drillhole KHDD001. Future Battery Minerals reports the full testwork schedule will be finalised after mineralogical scanning is complete.
The company says testwork will initially consist of non-destructive scanning, sample characterisation and mineralogical assessments, and stage crush and screening for coarse and fine mineral processing.
This will be followed with heavy liquid separation (HLS) of the coarse fractions to determine amenability to froth dense media separation (DMS), preliminary grain and liberation assessments, and sighter floatation tests to determine amenability to froth floatation.
Future Battery Minerals says this metallurgy and mineralogy will form part of the company’s ongoing technical studies into the lithium mineralisation at Kangaroo Hills.
Commenting on the testwork, Future Battery Minerals Technical Director Robin Cox says: “FBM is pleased to be partnering with the team at Minsol: a highly experienced and reputable team who will add value to our technical understanding of this exciting project. Given the continued flow of positive results from our RC drilling campaign, we believe the timing is now right to begin early metallurgical testing activities.
“Given the continued flow of positive results from our RC drilling campaign, we believe the timing is now right to begin early metallurgical testing activities”
We hope these results will provide confirmation of the amenability of the diamond core to conventional lithium processing techniques, as well as additional mineralogy and characterisation data, which will be invaluable to our ongoing exploration activities.”
Minsol Engineering Principal and Process Manager Robert Simmons also commented, stating the exploration results from Kangaroo Hills have so far been very promising, as have the preliminary assessments made on the diamond core samples.
“We are very excited to be partnering with FBM on this highly prospective spodumene project and believe our team can greatly assist in developing a more complete understanding of the project’s technical and commercial potential.”
Future Battery Minerals is an Australian company focused on exploring for key battery minerals including lithium, nickel, and copper across its portfolio of projects in Australia and internationally.
Along with Kangaroo Hills, the company holds the Leinster, Saints, and Nepean Nickel projects in Western Australia, as well as the Bonaventura, Arden, and Torrens East projects in South Australia. Additionally, the company holds the Nevada Lithium Project in the US.
The Kangaroo Hills Lithium Project is a joint venture (JV) between Future Battery Minerals, which holds an 80% interest in the project, and Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR), which holds the remaining 20% interest.
Write to Harry Mulholland at Mining.com.au
Images: Future Battery Minerals Ltd
