Renforth Resources (CSE:RFR) has partnered with Queen’s University to test a hydrometallurgical process designed to recover critical metals while capturing carbon dioxide at its Victoria polymetallic deposit in Québec, Canada.
The patent-pending process, developed by Dr Fei Wang and Dr David Dreisinger, targets nickel and cobalt hosted in pentlandite, violarite, and pyrrhotite, as well as copper and zinc from chalcopyrite and sphalerite.
Earlier mineralogical work found some of Victoria’s nickel occurs in pyrrhotite, where it is typically not recovered through conventional flotation.
Renforth says the process is designed to leach nickel and cobalt directly from low-grade sulphide material while converting magnesium- and iron-bearing minerals in Victoria’s ultramafic host rocks into stable carbonates that capture CO2.
The research will include bench-scale and column leach testing, recovery of metals from leach solutions as saleable intermediate products, and techno-economic and life-cycle assessments.
Victoria hosts an inferred mineral resource estimate of 125 million tonnes containing 331 million pounds (Mlb) of nickel, 220Mlb of zinc, 55Mlb of copper, 28Mlb of cobalt, and 1.53 million ounces of silver.
Test work has begun, with results to be released as they become available.
Renforth also owns the nearby Parbec Gold Project, where recent work identified atypical visible gold within previously untested mineralised structures.
Renforth Resources is a Canadian explorer focused on advancing its gold and critical minerals assets in Québec’s Abitibi region.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Main image: Renforth Resources
