Meeka Gold Limited is looking to accelerate metallurgical test work on rare earths from its Cascade and Circle Valley projects near Esperance in WA after assay results from the wholly owned operations pointed to shallow, wide and high-grade mineralisation across a significant tenement area. The company has now teamed up with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation or “ANTSO” to develop a commercial product.
ANSTO has more than 40 years of experience in the processing of critical and strategic metals such as rare earths and has delivered a bevy of consulting, process development and research services to a laundry list of players in the mining sector.
Meeka says the partnership could yield an optimal process to treat rare earths from its critical minerals portfolio.
ANSTO lays claim to a range of mineralogical, chemical and hydrometallurgical methods to investigate and deliver an optimised process flow sheet using feedstock from Meeka’s rare earth prospects.
According to the company, rare earths from its Cascade and Circle Valley projects boast significant concentrations of permanent magnet metals, including neodymium-praseodymium oxides.
Meeka recently chalked up an 85-hole probe at Cascade that underlined shallow, high-grade rare earth mineralisation in saprolitic clays.
The company says the initiative led to the discovery of thick rare earths accumulations running up to 29m wide across a large area that has demonstrated Cascade’s astonishing scale. Meeka tabled that 52 of the 85 holes drilled at the operation produced findings of up to 4029 parts per million total rare earth oxides and the higher-value magnet and critical rare earths categories accounted for almost 25 per cent of the project grades.
The explorer has also sunk over 100 holes across Cascade’s eastern tenements and expects to get its hands on the results later this month.
The company is now looking to kick the project along with a comprehensive plan that will see it vector in on the highest value heavy and magnet rare earth oxide zones and jump into metallurgical test work to understand the best method of producing a commercial product from its rare earth assets.
Clay-hosted rare earth operations like Cascade and Circle Valley have substantial economic advantages over traditional hard rock rare earths projects due to lower bulk mining and simplified process flow sheets.
The deposits often don’t require costly comminution and beneficiation procedures, that in-turn drives down the capital intensity and operational costs required to produce a refined end-product.
Rare earths, notably neodymium and praseodymium oxides, are seen as essential components for a greener economy and are used to produce industrial strength magnets that are used in hybrid and electric vehicles, wind turbine generators and cell phones.
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