REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Favourable Metallurgical Characteristics Confirmed

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

05/03/2024 07:15

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RNS Number : 6096F  Empire Metals Limited  05 March 2024

Empire Metals Limited / LON: EEE / Sector: Natural Resources

5 March 2024

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Mineralogy and Metallurgical Studies identify Unique Opportunity for Onsite
Processing to Deliver High-Value Product

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce the preliminary results from the
on-going mineralogical and metallurgical studies on the high-grade giant
sediment-hosted titanium discovery at the Pitfield Project ('Pitfield'),
located in Western Australia.

 

Highlights

 

·    Study results show favourable mineralogy and metallurgy in the
high-grade titanium samples drilled at Pitfield; resulting in a relatively
simple processing flowsheet and highly concentrated end product.

 

·    Titanite, a calcium titanium silicate, is confirmed as the most
abundant Ti-bearing mineral, accounting for approximately 67% of the total
contained TiO(2) and making up around 20% of the potential Pitfield ore by
mass.

 

·    Titanite is a "non-refractory" mineral and is amenable to a simple
low temperature acid leaching process to liberate the titanium, unlike igneous
"hard rock" ilmenite ores which commonly require on-site smelting to produce a
lower value titanium-rich slag product.

 

·    The conceptual processing flowsheet that is being tested consists of
beneficiation stages to generate a titanium-rich heavy mineral concentrate and
to remove acid-consuming gangue minerals, followed by a simple acid leaching
stage, and will therefore not require an energy intensive, on-site smelting
process.

 

·    The final product from the leaching stage is expected to have a very
high TiO₂ concentration, approaching the same content as natural rutile
(>95%), which would make it a highly desirable feedstock for a titanium
dioxide pigment producer.

 

·    Based on Q4 2023 rutile market supply and demand forecasts the price
range for rutile is in the order of US$1,880/t to US$2,180/t, reflecting a
tightening of the supply chain despite increasing demand over the next decade.

 

 

·    Additional opportunity has been identified to further refine the
TiO(2) product and make a very high value pigment-quality product on-site for
sale directly to end users for use in the manufacture of paints and coatings,
plastics and paper.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "I am delighted to report the results of
our preliminary technical studies, which demonstrate not only the
extraordinary mineralogical nature of this giant, titanium-rich mineral system
but also the unique, favourable metallurgical characteristics which offer
great promise of a simple processing flowsheet to achieve a desirable,
high-value TiO(2) product. Our efforts to date have shown that Pitfield is in
a class of its own when it comes to combined scale and grade, and additionally
offers a "soft-rock" type of bedded sandstone-hosted mineralisation that will
require little to no open-pit mine waste pre-stripping. The project lies
within one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world, close to well
established major infrastructure.

 

"This confirmation that the titanium mineralisation is dominated by titanite,
in such quantities as to set Pitfield apart from any previously reported world
class titanium resource, has further reinforced our belief that we are dealing
with an unprecedented discovery, one that could provide a path for Empire to
become a major supplier of 'rutile equivalent products' or even a significant
TiO(2) pigment producer in its own right.  With our newly appointed
metallurgical team we are ready to successfully execute and expedite the next
phase of project development and we will continue to bolster this group with
highly talented and experienced titanium industry professionals. I look
forward to providing further updates on our process development phase over the
coming months."

 

The Pitfield Titanium Project

Located within the Mid-West region of Western Australia, near the northern
wheatbelt town of Three Springs, Pitfield lies 313km north of Perth and 156km
south of Geraldton, the Mid West region's capital and major port.

 

Western Australia is ranked as one of the top mining jurisdictions in the
world according to the Fraser Institute's Investment Attractiveness Index
published in 2023, and has mining-friendly policies, stable government,
transparency, and advanced technology expertise. Pitifled has existing
connections to port (both road & rail), HV power substations, and is
nearby to natural gas pipelines as well as a green energy hydrogen fuel hub,
which is under planning and development (refer Figure 1).

Figure 1. Pitfield Project Location showing the Mid-West Region Infrastructure
and Services

 

Pitfield lies in a unique geological setting along the western boundary of the
Yilgarn Craton, within the Yandanooka Basin which consists mainly of
interbedded siliciclastic sedimentary rocks (refer Figure 2).  Importantly,
the Yandanooka Basin lies near the junction of two major structures, the
Darling Fault and Yandanooka-Cape Riche Lineament, the likely plumbing system
for the hydrothermal fluids that have strongly altered the sedimentary rocks
within the Basin and were responsible for the titanite mineralisation event.

 

Empire completed a maiden 21-hole Reverse Circulation ('RC') drill programme
in April 2023, which resulted in the discovery of titanium-rich mineralisation
within the hydrothermally altered sediments. The majority of the maiden drill
holes were located in the north, near Mt Scratch (a historical copper
working).  Three deeper diamond drill holes were completed during
September-October 2023, covering targets to the north (Mt Scratch), 30km to
the south (Thomas property) and in the central zone (Cosgrove property). All
three diamond holes intersection wide, high grade TiO(2) mineralisation down
to a vertical depth of 350 m (each hole ending in mineralisation). During
November-December 2023, Empire conducted a 40-hole RC drill programme focusing
on near surface, high grade targets within the mid and southern portions of
the tenements, these targets being up-dip from the high-grade intersections
encountered in the diamond drill holes.

Figure 2: Simplified geological section of the Yandanooka Basin. Note the
sandstone-rich beds which are host to higher grade TiO(2) mineralisation.
West-East section looking North.

 

The drilling confirmed that there is extensive, higher-grade TiO(2)
mineralisation in the thick sandstone-rich beds, which are returning
consistently higher-grade TiO(2) mineralisation than the adjacent conglomerate
or siltstone-rich beds; refer to Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Photomicrograph (plane polarized light) of titanium-rich bedded
sandstone.

Two, near-surface, km-scale zones of higher grade bedded sandstone-rich TiO(2)
mineralisation have been identified and are the focus of delineation for
initial resource development and to provide necessary metallurgical samples.
These two zones will be the focus of additional resource delineation drilling
in the next phase of exploration which has now commenced and should be
completed by the end of April.

 

Mineralogical Study Results

The Company submitted 29 samples for petrographic analysis and 16 samples for
Tescan Integrated Mineral Analyzer ("TIMA") analysis; the samples were
collected from both RC and diamond drill holes. Results of these mineralogical
studies confirm that titanite, a calcium titanium silicate mineral
(CaTiSiO(5)), is the most abundant titanium mineral followed by Ti-bearing
iron oxides, ilmenite and then rutile group minerals.  The quantity of
titanite within the tested samples averaged approximately 20% of the rock
mass; this level of titanite concentration is extraordinary as titanite is
usually an accessory mineral and rarely gets above 1-2% of the rock mass. Of
the remaining Ti minerals, Ti-bearing iron oxides make up around 15% of the
rock mass with ilmenite forming 2%.  Petrographic studies indicate that
titanite was formed as part of the hydrothermal alteration of the host
sandstone, suggesting extreme Ti mobility during this mineralising event,
again highlighting the unique nature of this giant mineral system.

 

Preliminary Metallurgical Studies

Explorative metallurgical investigations have focused mainly on wet gravity
separation to beneficiate crushed and ground ore samples before further
processing, with around 90% of the heavy minerals such as ilmenite, Ti-oxides
and Fe-oxides recovered to the concentrate streams with 84% recovery of the
titanite; titanite having a slightly lower specific gravity.  The very good
performance of the wet table in recovering the titanium minerals into a heavy
mineral concentrate provides confidence that these minerals can be recovered
by simple wet gravity separation; a common mineral processing method. TIMA
analysis of the wet gravity separation products, along with the CSIRO
microprobe results, estimate that titanite accounts for approximately
two-thirds of the TiO(2) contained in the two wet gravity samples.  Each of
these samples is a representative composite of RC drillhole samples collected
along significantly long (88m and 190m) mineralised intervals from
near-surface to depth. The selected RC drillholes for these composite samples
are located many kilometres from each other at either end of the 40km long,
giant mineral system.

 

From Empire's preliminary processing studies, it is anticipated that Pitfield
ore will be amenable to conventional leaching under atmospheric conditions to
liberate the titanium, not unlike how certain copper ores are recovered by an
acid leach-solvent extraction process to liberate copper on site.  There is a
considerable amount of metallurgical research work that demonstrates the
successful leaching of titanite, using low temperature sulphuric acid or
hydrochloric acid to dissolve the titanite and liberate the Ti into a liquid
phase. A preliminary conceptual processing flowsheet is shown below.

 

 

 

Figure 4. Preliminary Metallurgical Process Flowsheet.

One of the key differences between the processing options being considered for
the Pitfield titanite ore and those commonly found in the ilmenite industry is
that a low temperature acid leach process is likely all that is needed to
extract the titanium and produce a high-quality product.  No energy-intensive
smelting is required and a higher value product can be produced on-site.

 

Potential On-site High Value TiO(2) Products

The final product from the leaching stage is expected to be a fine
precipitated powder with a high TiO₂ concentration, approaching the same
content as natural rutile (>95%). However, the material will likely require
calcination and pelletisation to make it an attractive, handleable product for
customers.  Based on Q4 2023 rutile market supply and demand forecasts the
price range for rutile is in the order of US$1,880/t to US$2,180/t, reflecting
a tightening of the supply chain despite increasing demand over the next
decade (Source: Sovereign Metals Ltd. February 2024 Investor Presentation -
Prices per TZMI; Ilmenite price: November 2023 FOB Mozambique; Rutile price:
"weighted average price for bagged rutile shipments").

 

The Company could additionally consider a further on-site refinement step for
the TiO(2) product and make a pigment-quality product for marketing directly
to end users, in the manufacture of paints and coatings, plastics and paper.
Based on Q4 2022 prices the expected price range for TiO(2) pigments is in the
order of US$4,340/t to US$5,180/t.
(Source:https://medium.com/intratec-products-blog/titanium-dioxide-prices-latest-historical-data-in-several-countries-24ec1864a198)

 

With the recent additions of very senior processing engineers, including two
titanium experts, to our growing Perth-based technical team, the Company is
well placed to advance the Pitfield project through its next stage of process
& product development, ultimately towards the successful construction and
execution of a processing demo plant in H2 2025.  This will be a remarkable
achievement considering that the discovery drill programme was completed less
than a year ago.  The Company remains committed to expediting the economic
development of the Pitfield project to maximise the benefits for all
stakeholders.

 

Development Plan 2024/2025

The first half of 2024 will see the Company complete the diamond core drilling
and RC drilling currently underway as well as further external expert studies
focussed on petrography and mineralogy. The Company's in-house team will
commence research and development studies and undertake further metallurgical
testing. The second half of 2024 will see the Company undertake circa 12,000
metres of resource in-fill RC drilling. Process flowsheet design and product
testing will also take place as well as environmental, social and marketing
studies. The 2024 work programme is currently fully funded.

 

Half one of 2025 will commence with the second stage of resource in-filling
drilling expected to include approximately 2,000 metres of diamond core and up
to 24,000 metres of RC drilling. Demonstration plant design and engineering
will be undertaken, and the product specifications will be refined. The first
half of 2025 will also see environmental and social permitting work commence.
The target for the second half of 2025 will be to commence construction of the
demonstration plant as well as undertake licencing and permitting for a
small-scale mining operation.

 

To view the technical appendix to this announcement, please click here:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6096F_1-2024-3-5.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6096F_1-2024-3-5.pdf)

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk
(http://www.empiremetals.co.uk)   or contact:

 Empire Metals Ltd

 Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel                                                               Tel: 020 4583 1440
 S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker)                                      Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl / Kasia Brzozowska
 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                               Tel: 020 7186 9950

 Damon Heath
 St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial                                                       Tel: 020 7236 1177
 PR)

 Susie Geliher / Ana Ribeiro

 

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development
company with a project portfolio comprising copper, titanium and gold
interests in Australia and Austria.

 

The Company's strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at different
stages in the development curve. Its current focus is on the Pitfield Project
in Western Australia, which has demonstrated to contain a newly recognised
giant titanium-rich mineral system that hosts a globally significant titanium
discovery.

 

The Company also has three further exploration projects in Australia; the
Eclipse Project and the Walton Project in Western Australia, and the Stavely
Project in the Stavely Arc region of Victoria, in addition to three precious
metals projects located in a historically high-grade gold producing region of
Austria.

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