TIDMIRR
RNS Number : 4437G
IronRidge Resources Limited
25 November 2020
25 November 2020
Additional Positive Metallurgical Test Results
Improved Lithium Recoveries at the Ewoyaa Lithium Project
Ghana, West Africa
IronRidge Resources Limited (AIM: IRR, "IronRidge" or the
"Company"), the African focussed minerals exploration company, is
pleased to report additional very positive metallurgical test
results from the Ewoyaa Lithium Project within the Cape Coast
Lithium Portfolio in Ghana, West Africa.
Figures and Tables referred to in this release can be viewed in
the PDF version available via this link:
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/4437G_1-2020-11-25.pdf
HIGHLIGHTS:
Ø Additional test work completed to improve lithium recoveries
in coarse grained type P1 and finer grained type P2 pegmatites.
Ø Larger scale gravity processing of P1 mineralisation inclusive
of middlings fraction confirms up to 74% recovery of over 6%
spodumene concentrates.
Ø Mass yields, of up to 22%, are considered to be high by peer
comparison and support an economic case for a lower throughput and
lower capital intensity starter project.
Ø Gravity processing of P2 mineralisation inclusive of middlings
fraction delivers 51% recovery of 5.5% spodumene concentrates for
blending.
Ø Further project enhancements available by processing of fines
generated by crushing.
Ø Opportunity to recover feldspar by-products for the local and
European ceramics industry identified.
Commenting on the Company's latest progress, Noel O'Brien,
metallurgical consultant to IronRidge, said:
"We are very pleased to have refined recoveries and mass yields,
which we believe are high by peer comparison, without loss of
concentrate grade achieved through further larger scale test work
at Ewoyaa. All of this was achieved whilst maintaining a simple
gravity only process flow sheet design philosophy.
"The Ewoyaa Project can be further enhanced by later stage
flotation to capture lithium losses in fines generated during
crushing, albeit this represents a relatively small volume of the
lithium credits in the project.
"Additionally, test work has defined a potential valuable
by-product stream in high quality feldspar concentrate with low
contaminants, which could be suitable for the local and European
ceramics industry."
Commenting on the latest test-work results, Vincent Mascolo, CEO
and MD of IronRidge Resources, said:
"We are very pleased with the recovery improvements achieved
through re-crushing of middlings whilst maintaining concentrate
grade.
"We will continue to explore all avenues available to us for any
project enhancements to maximise value for all shareholders.
"The recognition of further lithium recoveries from fines
generated by crushing, as well as the favourable composition of our
feldspar tailings waste stream for potential sale into the ceramics
industry, represent valuable project enhancements."
New Metallurgical Test Work
The first phase of metallurgical testing on drill core from the
Ewoyaa lithium deposit (JORC 2012 compliant 14.5Mt at 1.31% Li(2) O
in the Inferred and Indicated category) was reported in RNS' of 21
May 2019 , 25 June 2019 and 28 January 2020.
The initial results from testing the core samples demonstrated
good metallurgical response for both the course P1 type pegmatites
and the finer grained P2 type pegmatites. These results were based
on laboratory bench scale Heavy Liquid Separation ('HLS')
variability testing and indicated idealised recoveries of 6% Li(2)
O concentrates ranging from:
-- 62% to 78% for P1 mineralisation at mass yields of 12-22% and
-- 30-50% for P2 mineralisation at mass yields of 5-10%.
Additionally, X-Ray Diffraction ("XRD") mineralogical data
demonstrated that spodumene was the dominant lithium bearing
mineral in all concentrates produced. Resource evaluation to date
has demonstrated that P1 type pegmatites are dominant in the Ewoyaa
deposit, with a ratio of P1 to P2 of around 60% : 40%. Within each
type there are zones of transitional and fresh mineralisation which
are expected to behave slightly differently in a processing plant.
Of the total resource, 12% is weathered transitional and 88% is
primary fresh material.
These initial results were encouraging in terms of being able to
present a business case based on low cost gravity separation
technology to generate commercial grade concentrates in economic
quantities.
Further work has been done on the first stage of improvement,
with P1 mineralisation being tested at a larger scale using a 100mm
Dense Media Separation ('DMS') cyclone as well as testing the
effect of re-crushing middlings, and also the effect of re-crushing
middlings on the recovery from P2 mineralisation still using
HLS.
P1 Fresh Mineralisation:
A 54kg composite of fresh P1 mineralisation grading 1.68% Li(2)
O, was crushed to 6.3mm and screened at 0.5mm. The first pass DMS
results at 2.9 SG produced 67% recovery at an elevated grade of
6.29%. When normalised to 6% grade, this corresponds to a recovery
of 69% at a mass yield of around 21%.
Re-crushing of the intermediate grade gravity middlings
fractions has been shown on a number of projects to liberate more
spodumene and result in increased recoveries. The middlings
fractions from this test were re-crushed at 3.35mm and put through
the DMS again and the combined result showed a recovery of 75%
recovery at a grade of 5.88%. When normalised to 6% grade, this
corresponds to an increase in recovery to around 74% at a mass
yield of 22%, (refer Table 1 ).
Overall, the results for P1 fresh mineralisation demonstrate
that a gravity recovery of 74% can be achieved and that re-crushing
the middlings will assist in maintaining this recovery.
P1 Transitional Weathered Mineralisation:
A 24kg composite of P1 transitional mineralisation was processed
in the 100mm cyclone following the same procedure described above
for the fresh mineralisation. The grade of the composite was 1.37%
Li(2) O.
The first pass results without re-crushing showed a recovery of
60% at an elevated grade of 6.27% and a mass yield of 13%. When
normalised to 6% concentrates, this corresponded to a recovery of
63% at a mass yield of 15%. After re-crushing the middlings, the
results also showed an improvement to 70% recovery, at a grade of
6.0% and a mass yield of 16% (refer Table 1 ).
These results demonstrated that 70% recoveries could be obtained
from transitional material, again with the assistance of
re-crushing the middlings.
P2 Mineralisation:
P2 mineralisation is finer grained than P1 and generally lower
grade. It makes up around 40% of the deposit which represents a
significant part of the overall lithium inventory and will in all
likelihood be processed by itself or as a blend from time to
time.
To date, only preliminary smaller scale HLS tests have been done
on P2 mineralisation to gauge the response of it to gravity
processing. The results below show the P2 ores benefit from
re-crushing the middlings with the recovery of fresh ore increasing
from 42% to 46% at a grade of 5.5% and the recovery of transitional
ore increasing from 55% to 61%at a grade of 5.6% (refer Table 2 ).
There was insufficient data to normalise the P2 recoveries to 6%
concentrate, but extrapolation of the data suggests an overall
recovery of about 51%.
Fines Processing:
Around 15-20% of the contained lithium is in the -0.5mm fines
fraction generated by crushing that is screened out before gravity
processing, as gravity processing below this size is challenging. A
number of mines utilise flotation to recover value from this
fraction and a preliminary series of tests were done on P2 Fresh
-0.5mm mineralisation, with a grade of 1.02% Li(2) O, to gauge the
amenability of Ewoyaa spodumene to standard flotation
techniques.
The results were encouraging with 6% concentrates being produced
at a flotation recovery of 57% (49% overall after allowing for
desliming and magnetic losses) and a mass yield of 11.1%. This
demonstrated the potential to improve overall recovery by capturing
lithium loss due to fines generation during crushing, and so expand
the economic lithium inventory of the deposit.
Potential By-Products:
The recent work highlighted that the lighter gravity fractions
of Ewoyaa mineralisation; the SG2.6 floats, have elevated levels of
potassium ('K(2) O') and sodium ('Na(2) O') minerals. In just about
all cases from the test work completed, the total of K(2) O + Na(2)
O is greater than 10%. This level is considered to be commercial
grade feldspar and the ceramics industry has a significant
requirement for such material.
Based on this preliminary analysis, it is estimated that upwards
of 20% of the plant feed material could be recovered as a saleable
feldspar product. For a plant designed to process one million
tonnes per year, this translates to around 200,000 tonnes or more
of this product per year.
This product could be suitable for the regional ceramics
industry and the wider international industry.
Competent Person Statement
Information in this report relating to the exploration results
is based on data reviewed by Mr Lennard Kolff (MEcon. Geol., BSc.
Hons ARSM), Chief Geologist of the Company. Mr Kolff is a Member of
the Australian Institute of Geoscientists who has in excess of 20
years' experience in mineral exploration and is a Qualified Person
under the AIM Rules. Mr Kolff consents to the inclusion of the
information in the form and context in which it appears.
The information in this announcement that relates to
metallurgical results is based on information compiled by Mr Noel
O'Brien, Director of Trinol Pty. Limited. Mr O'Brien is a Fellow of
the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and
has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of
mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the
activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person
as defined in the December 2012 edition of the "Australasian Code
for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore
Reserves" (JORC Code). Mr O'Brien consents to the inclusion in the
report of the matters based upon the information in the form and
context in which it appears.
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this
announcement.
For any further information please contact:
IronRidge Resources Limited Tel: +61 7 3303 0610
Vincent Mascolo (Chief Executive Officer)
Karl Schlobohm (Company Secretary)
www.ironridgeresources.com.au
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Tel: +4 (0)20 3470 0470
Nominated Adviser
Jeff Keating
Charlie Bouverat
SI Capital Limited Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413
Company Broker 500
Nick Emerson Tel: +44 (0) 207 871 4038
Jon Levinson
Yellow Jersey PR Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 3004 9512
Henry Wilkinson
Dominic BarrettoMatthew McHale
Notes to Editors
IronRidge Resources is an AIM-listed, Africa focussed minerals
exploration company with a lithium pegmatite discovery in Ghana,
extensive grassroots gold portfolio in Cote d'Ivoire and a
potential new gold province discovery in Chad. The Company holds
legacy iron ore assets in Gabon and a bauxite resource in
Australia. IronRidge's strategy is to create and sustain
shareholder value through the discovery and development of
significant and globally demanded commodities.
Côte d'Ivoire
The Company entered into conditional earn-in arrangements in
Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa; securing access rights to highly
prospective gold mineralised structures and pegmatite occurrences
covering a combined 3,584km(2) and 1,172km(2) area respectively.
The projects are well located within access of an extensive bitumen
road network and along strike from multi-million-ounce gold
projects and mines. The Company's most advanced project is the
Zaranou gold project which includes high-grade gold drilling
intersections along 8km strike including 6m @ 6.44g/t gold from
132m, 6m @ 15.11g/t gold from 26m, 4m @ 5.16g/t gold from 110m and
22m @ 3.39g/t gold from 8m within a broader 47km long gold
anomalous structure.
Ghana
The Cape Coast Lithium portfolio covers some 684km(2) and
includes the newly discovered Ewoyaa Lithium Project with a maiden
Mineral Resource estimate of 14.5Mt at 1.31% Li(2) O in the
inferred and indicated category including 4.5Mt @ 1.39% Li(2) O in
the indicated category (reported in accordance with the JORC Code)
. The Company entered into earn-in arrangements with Obotan
Minerals Limited, Merlink Resources Limited, Barari Developments
Limited and Joy Transporters Limited of Ghana, West Africa,
securing the first access rights to acquire the historical
Egyasimanku Hill spodumene rich lithium deposit, estimated to be in
the order of 1.48Mt at 1.67% Li(2) O and surrounding tenements. The
tenure package is also prospective for tin, tantalum, niobium,
caesium and gold, which occur as accessory minerals within the
pegmatites and host formations.
Chad
The Company entered into an agreement with Tekton Minerals Pte
Ltd of Singapore concerning its portfolio covering 746km(2) of
highly prospective gold and other mineral projects in Chad, Central
Africa. IronRidge acquired 100% of Tekton including its projects
and team to advance the Dorothe, Echbara, Am Ouchar, Nabagay and
Kalaka licenses, which host multiple, large scale gold projects.
Trenching results at Dorothe, including 84m @ 1.66g/t Au (including
6m @ 5.49g/t & 8m @ 6.23g/t), 4m @ 18.77g/t Au (including 2m @
36.2g/t), 32m @ 2.02g/t Au (including 18m @ 3.22g/t), 24m @ 2.53g/t
Au (including 6m @ 4.1g/t (including 2m @ 6.2g/t) and 2m @
6.14g/t), 14.12g/t Au over 4m, 34.1g/t over 2m and 63.2g/t over 1m,
have defined significant gold mineralised quartz veining zones over
a 3km by 1km area including the steep dipping 'Main Vein' and
shallow dipping 'Sheeted Vein' zones.
Australia
Monogorilby is prospective for province scale titanium and
bauxite, with an initial maiden resource of 54.9MT of premium DSO
bauxite. Monogorilby is located in central Queensland, within a
short trucking distance of the rail system leading north to the
Port of Bundaberg. It is also located within close proximity of the
active Queensland Rail network heading south towards the Port of
Brisbane.
May Queen is located in Central Queensland within IRR's wholly
owned Monogorilby license package and is highly prospective for
gold. Historic drilling completed during the 1980s intersected
multiple high-grade gold intervals, including 2m @ 73.4 g/t Au
(including 1m at 145g/t), 4m @ 38.8g/t Au (at end of hole) and 3m @
18.9g/t Au, over an approximate 100m strike hosting numerous
parallel vein systems open along strike.
Gabon
Tchibanga is located in south-western Gabon, in the Nyanga
Province, within 10-60km of the Atlantic coastline. This project
comprises two exploration licenses, Tchibanga and Tchibanga Nord,
which cover a combined area of 3,396km(2) and include over 90km of
prospective lithologies and the historic Mont Pele iron occurrence.
Belinga Sud is Located in the north east of Gabon in the
Ogooue-Ivindo Province, approximately 400km east of the capital
city of Libreville. IRR's licence lies between the main Belinga
Iron Ore Deposit, believed to be one of the world's largest
untapped reserves of iron ore with an estimated 1bt of iron ore at
a grade >60% Fe, and the route of the Trans Gabonese railway,
which currently carries manganese ore and timber from Franceville
to the Port of Owendo in Libreville.
Corporate
IronRidge made its AIM debut in February 2015, successfully
securing strategic alliances with three international companies:
Assore Limited of South Africa, Sumitomo Corporation of Japan and
DGR Global Limited of Australia. Assore is a high-grade iron,
chrome and manganese mining specialist. Sumitomo Corporation is a
global resource, mining marketing and trading conglomerate. DGR
Global is a project generation and exploration specialist.
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