Acid grade fluorspar product specimens meet the criteria for hydrofluoric acid treatment at Tivan’s (ASX:TVN) Speewah Project, 100km south of Wyndham in Western Australia’s Kimberley region.
Independent product specification assessments initially show that premium-quality acid grade fluorspar products are suitable and can be produced at the project.
Tivan appointed ALS Metallurgy to assess the samples from diamond core drilled ore against product specifications from potential end users in Asia. Joint venture partner Sumitomo Corporation (TYO:8053) supported the test work as a part of its offtake marketing program.
All end users completed their technical evaluations, gave positive feedback, and confirmed that samples are suitable for hydrofluoric acid production.
Low levels of arsenic, phosphorus, and sulphides helped to produce ultra-pure hydrofluoric acid for semiconductor manufacturing and other technologically advanced purposes.
Tivan responded by launching a “mini-pilot” program at ALS Metallurgy’s Perth laboratory. The critical minerals company is finalising process engineering and producing a second, larger batch of acid grade fluorspar product to facilitate further sample assessment and marketing from Sumitomo.
The piloting program and detailed variability test work program that is underway, combined with end-user feedback, will support finalisation of the acidspar product specification for the Speewah Fluorite Project.
“This is a significant technical achievement by Tivan’s process engineering team, and a key stepping stone for our project, confirming the suitability of potential acidspar production from Australia to strengthen some of the most vital supply chains in Asia,” Executive Chairman Grant Wilson says.
“We extend sincere thanks to the team at Sumitomo Corporation for their dedicated efforts in facilitating the iterative feedback that is required for us to finalise a product specification and optimise the design of the project.”
Tivan is a critical minerals company with assets in the Australia and Southeast Asia.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: Tivan
