West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) has enlisted the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Nagrom to assist with metallurgical testwork at the Salazar Rare Earth Element (REE) Project in Western Australia.
The rare earths and battery metal exploration company reports ANSTO and Nagrom to assist with programs that will build on historical testwork that produced positive results utilising representative ore samples from the Newmont deposit.
Since around 2011, metallurgical studies have been undertaken on Salazar by various parties. The company reports Townend Mineralogy has studied the mineralogy of the project, while metallurgical laboratories Amdel, Nagrom, TSW Analytical/Source Certain International, research groups from the University of Western Australia, the CSIRO, and other research institutions have all studied the micro-leach extractability of the Newmont deposit.
In addition to micro-leach testwork, investigations have been conducted on screening and sizing effects, wet high gradient magnetic separation testwork, and in-situ leaching. West Cobar says the ‘substantial knowledge base gathered from this historical work is being leveraged in the programs the company is currently progressing.
Commenting on the metallurgical testwork, West Cobar Metals Non-Executive Director, Rob Klug says: “We know that the historical work completed at the Salazar project, prior to its acquisition by West Cobar showed positive indications that the Newmont REE mineralisation is amenable to acid leach extraction.
Those first pass results gave us confidence in the project and we are pleased to have engaged ANSTO to commence further leaching studies in order to optimise acid consumption and leaching recoveries under a range of testing conditions.
“Those first pass results gave us confidence in the project and we are pleased to have engaged ANSTO to commence further leaching studies…”
We have also decided to further enhance the metallurgical flowsheet process by focusing on beneficiation studies in order to upgrade the samples on the front end. We are excited to progress these work streams concurrently as we move this project towards commercialisation.”
West Cobar reports it is working through a ‘comprehensive’ leaching program with ANSTO. This first phase of leach tests has been designed to confirm the results observed in previous testwork, and to determine the most feasible approach for REE extraction.
The company says data will be acquired for hydrochloric, and organic acid leaching to define the reference reactivity of the REEs and determine if the altered solution speciation with an organic acid enhances the REE reactivity.
Additionally, some preliminary screening/cyclosizing testwork will be undertaken which will be complemented by similar leach testwork. West Cobar says the testwork will look to evaluate metallurgical variability, and further optimise leaching conditions including pH, temperature, residence time, % solids, acid consumption, and water quality.
West Cobar is also continuing to pursue 2 distinct beneficiation options for Salazar through Nagrom and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals to complement the leaching testwork studies. These beneficiation studies are aiming to achieve a ‘significant’ upgrade to and enhanced REE recoveries.
West Cobar Metals is a REE and battery metals exploration company focused on the Salazar REE Project in southern Western Australia.
Drilling at the project has delineated a JORC 2012 resource at the Newmont deposit, consisting of 43.5 million tonnes at 1,192 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO).
Images: West Cobar Metals Ltd & iStock
