Mineral processing test work has confirmed the ability for Podium Minerals to produce a viable platinum group metal flotation concentrate suitable for smelter feeds from ore at its Parks Reef project.
The company says additional downstream processing developments have also proven that high metal recovery of all eight metals found at the site can be achieved using atmospheric leaching. Initial indications also show that metal recovery from the leach solution can produce a high-grade PGM product suitable for refinery feed. The eight metals are the 5E PGM elements of platinum, palladium, gold, rhodium and iridium in addition to nickel, copper and cobalt.
Podium believes the results demonstrate the potential for the company to consider the production of high-grade PGM products that could be supplied as direct feed to global refineries without the need for smelting. Additional benefits include higher metal payables and the ability to reduce the project’s logistic costs.
Podium Minerals Managing Director and CEO, Sam Rodda said: “Leaching test work, when compared to the flotation process, could deliver a step change in unlocking value for Parks Reef due to the potential for Podium to produce a higher-grade product attractive to PGM refineries globally.”
Podium says the Parks Reef deposit has two distinct ore domains, an oxide zone from surface to approximately 45m deep and a sulphide ore zone starting at around 45m and continuing to the base of the orebody. Oxide ore has not delivered acceptable recoveries through the standard flotation tests to date but has responded well to the hydrometallurgy leaching program. The company says an atmospheric leach process has been selected as the most effective means of extracting PGM and base metals from both ore types.
Just last month Podium received final assays from stage 10 drilling at the Mid West site that led to an upgraded mineral resource estimate of 143 million tonnes at 1.3 grams per tonne for a total of six million ounces of 5E PGM.
The upgraded resource estimate now contains individual mineral grades of 0.64 g/t platinum, 0.52 g/t palladium, 0.07 g/t gold, 0.05 g/t rhodium and 0.02 g/t iridium. The company says the Parks Reef project also contains 94,000 tonnes of copper, 127,000 tonnes of nickel and 24,000 tonnes of cobalt.
The 5E PGM Parks Reef project is a 15km-long contact zone mineralisation between mafic and ultramafic rock units near Meekatharra. Ore commences near surface and has been proven to 500m below ground and remains open in all directions.
Future work will focus on refining leach and flotation steps to improve recoveries. If the company is able to identify a leach process for both ore types found at Parks Reef, it has the potential to simplify processing and lead to a reduction in capital costs whilst producing a high-grade end product.
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