VANCOUVER, Oct. 19, 2015
/CNW/ - Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv: CCE, FSE: D7H,
OTCQX: CMRZF) (the "Company" or "Commerce") is pleased to announce
that it has made significant metallurgical improvements to its
mineral concentrate for the Ashram Rare Earth Deposit. Overall rare
earth element ("REE") recoveries have now increased from 71% to 76%
while maintaining a grade of greater than 40% TREO. In addition,
the recent testwork has simplified the leach process stage of the
flowsheet through the elimination of the secondary leach.
Company President Chris Grove
states, "We are pleased with the ongoing metallurgical improvements
to the Ashram Deposit's flowsheet and are excited by the
possibilities for additional optimization."
The testwork was completed on flotation concentrate, produced
from piloting, which was bench scale tested through the leach
stage, and then through the Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separation
(WHIMS) stage. The leach stage, completed to remove carbonate
minerals remaining after flotation, used a simplified process that
required only a primary leach before proceeding to the WHIMS stage.
Previously, a secondary leach had been required prior to
WHIMS.
The objective of the test was to demonstrate that a simplified
leach stage (i.e. single-leach) could produce comparable results in
fewer process steps compared to the base case (i.e. double-leach).
This objective was successfully achieved, resulting in a mineral
concentrate of 42% TREO at 76% recovery, and represents a
significant increase in recovery from the previously reported 71%,
while maintaining a high-grade (see news release dated October 5, 2015). This leach stage flowsheet
development offers considerable cost advantages as fewer process
steps are now required (i.e. no secondary leach, etc.) and fewer
reagents are now consumed.
The simplified leach process is now being piloted to demonstrate
scale-up, with results to be reported when completed.
The Company's ultimate flowsheet objective for the project is to
produce a final saleable product(s) at the lowest operating cost
possible (measured in $US/kg of REO produced) while using a
practical, scalable, and robust process. The two primary means to
this objective are:
- Improving REE recoveries to the final product(s).
- Improving the flowsheet's processing efficiency, thereby
improving cost effectiveness (i.e. simplification of the
flowsheet).
The Company is pleased to report herein that both of these means
have been significantly advanced.
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The simplified leach
process uses a single primary leach only (i.e. no secondary leach),
whereby a large majority of the REEs partition to the residue phase
while the remaining REEs partition to the liquor phase. The REEs
from the liquor phase are fully recovered selectively as a
high-grade precipitate, resulting in a negligible loss in the stage
(i.e. effectively >99% REE recovery in the HCl processing step).
The residue is processed through WHIMS and the magnetic product is
combined with the high-grade precipitate from the liquor to produce
a final mineral concentrate.
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NI 43-101 Disclosure
Darren L.
Smith, M.Sc., P.Geol., Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd.,
a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101,
supervised the preparation of the technical information in this
news release.
Eric Larochelle, Eng., and Alain Dorval, Eng., Manager-Process,
Mining and Mineral Processing, of Roche Ltd., Consulting Group,
Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101,
reviewed the technical information presented in this news
release.
About the Ashram Rare Earth Element Deposit
The Ashram
Rare Earth Element (REE) Deposit is located in north-eastern
Quebec. The Deposit has a measured
resource of 1.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.77% TREO, an indicated
resource of 27.7 Mt at 1.90% TREO, and an inferred resource of
219.8 Mt at 1.88% TREO.
The REEs at Ashram occur primarily in the mineral monazite and
to a lesser extent in bastnaesite and xenotime. These minerals
dominate the currently known commercial extraction processes for
rare earths. The Ashram Deposit mineralization has an REE
distribution with enrichment in the critical and magnet feed REEs
(Nd, Pr, Eu, Tb, Dy, and Y).
A Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was completed in May of
2012 by SGS-Geostat of Montreal
(Blainville) (see news release
May 24, 2012). The PEA is based on a
4,000 tonne per day open-pit operation with an initial 25-year mine
life, a pre-tax Net Present Value (NPV) of $2.32 billion at a 10% discount rate, a
pre-tax/pre-finance Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 44%, and a
pre-tax/pre-finance payback period of 2.25 years.
The PEA (revised date January 7,
2015) is preliminary in nature, and includes inferred
mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically
to have the economic considerations applied to them that would
enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no
certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources are not
mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic
viability. The current Ashram Technical Report dated January 7, 2015 explains why no after-tax case is
included, and that a combined tax rate of around 32.5% may apply to
production.
With respect to the ongoing Pre-feasibility Study (PFS), the
results of the programs described in this news release will be
incorporated, along with other necessary technical data including
geological and engineering studies, into the PFS with costs and
benefits to be described in more detail therein.
About Commerce Resources Corp.
Commerce Resources
Corp. is an exploration and development company with a particular
focus on deposits of rare metals and rare earth elements. The
Company is focused on the development of its Ashram Rare Earth
Element Deposit in Quebec and the
Upper Fir Tantalum and Niobium Deposit in British Columbia.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP.
"Chris Grove"
Chris
Grove
President
Tel: 604.484.2700
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its
Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains
forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks
and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events
or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. Forward looking statements in this press release
include and are not limited to, that the testwork has simplified
the leach process stage and that there could be additional
opportunities for optimization. These forward-looking
statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and
other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking
information. Risks that could change or prevent these
statements from coming to fruition include changing costs for
mining and processing; increased capital costs; the timing and
content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations based
on current data that may change with more detailed information;
potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumption based
on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered
analogous deposits that with further test work may not be
comparable; the availability of labour, equipment and markets
for the products produced; and despite the current expected
viability of the project, conditions changing such that the
minerals on our property cannot be economically mined, or that the
required permits to build and operate the envisaged mine can be
obtained. The forward-looking information contained herein is given
as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to
update or revise such information to reflect new events or
circumstances, except as required by law.
SOURCE Commerce Resources Corp.
