McLaren Minerals (ASX:MML) has confirmed the practicality of its slimes management strategy for the group’s titanium project with test work around its slime strategy as the optimal choice and in line with conventional mineral sands practices.
According to McLaren, water conditioning using low-grade gypsum has delivered the best outcomes in settling and water clarity when using a conditioner during the thickening process.
Metallurgical tests conducted by IHC Mining and SciDev (ASX:SDV) showed the project’s slimes – fine clay-like byproducts of mineral processing – can be effectively thickened to roughly 26% solids, dewatered and co-disposed alongside coarse tailings.
McLaren intends to progress with a Prefeasibility Study design, while further testing undersite water conditions, processing bulk samples for marketing and flow sheet validation, and inspecting the longevity of the plant.
Managing Director Simon Finnis says the outcomes from the metallurgical test work program provides the company with confidence for the prospectivity of implementing a slimes management strategy.
“We’ve now independently validated the assumptions behind our slimes strategy and shown that even with this high slimes sample, the McLaren Project can adopt successful and conventional mineral sands approaches — with some smart refinements,” Finnis says.
“That makes for a simpler, more robust plant design and a lower-risk development path.”
McLaren Minerals is an Australian explorer focused on developing its namesake project in the Eucla Basin of Western Australia to produce titanium for aerospace, defence, and energy technologies.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: McLaren Minerals
