REG - European Green Trns. - Metallurgical Results from Olserum REE Project

European Green TransitionAnnouncement

17/07/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 6631W  European Green Transition PLC  17 July 2024

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. With the publication of this
announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is
now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 17 July 2024

European Green Transition plc

("European Green Transition", "EGT" or "the Company")

 

 Metallurgical Results from the Olserum REE Project

 

European Green Transition (AIM: EGT), a company developing green economy
assets in Europe which aims to capitalise on the opportunity created by the
green energy transition, is pleased to announce its first metallurgical test
work results from the Olserum Rare Earth Elements ("REE") project in south
Sweden.

 

Highlights

 

·    Test work confirms that the mineralisation style at Olserum is
capable of producing a REE-rich concentrate from simple magnetic separation
followed by standard flotation.

·    Following 20 flotation tests, a flowsheet to produce separate REE,
apatite and magnetite concentrates has been devised using conventional and
well-proven beneficiation techniques. A bulk REE-apatite concentrate
containing the minerals monazite, xenotime and apatite was produced with high
recoveries of 84.4-92.6% for light rare earth elements ("LREE") and 80.9-90.7%
for heavy rare earth elements ("HREE").  The bulk REE-apatite concentrate had
grades between 10.5% and 12.6% total rare earth elements ("TREE").

·    This was increased to 30-40.11% total rare earth oxides ("TREO")
after high gradient magnetic separation ("HGMS") on the bulk concentrate with
initial recoveries of between 55.3-64% for LREE and 53.8-72.5% for HREE
respectively, representing a mass pull of only 1.03-2.04%.

·    The Directors believe that these results, in conjunction with EGT's
fully permitted low-cost drill programme scheduled for H2-2024, will support
the Company in seeking to monetise the Olserum project by attracting a partner
to fund a larger scale programme.

 

Aiden Lavelle, Chief Executive Officer of European Green Transition, said:

"This metallurgical test work on a 135kg sample of typical mineralisation from
the Olserum REE Project indicates that the target REE phosphate minerals can
be concentrated into a high-grade concentrate with a significant proportion of
high-value and critical heavy rare earths. The grade of the final concentrate
exceeded my expectations, and the mineralogy of the final concentrate was
dominated by the target minerals with 40.25% being monazite and 24.25% being
xenotime which is very favourable. It demonstrates that a low volume
high-grade concentrate can be produced at Olserum and can potentially be
processed at a 3(rd) party's facility, which is significantly more cost
effective than developing a bespoke processing facility.  Test work such as
this is crucial to derisk further investment and demonstrate to potential
partners that the mineralisation style can be processed using conventional and
relatively simple processing techniques.

"We believe these results further strengthen the Olserum REE project and make
it an attractive European based proposition, as a number of companies
internationally are looking to increase REE production from monazite
feedstocks and are actively seeking feedstock for new and proposed plants. We
are now focused on our fully permitted low-cost drill programme for Olserum in
H2 2024, which we believe could confirm a district scale REE system with
further project upside, supporting our intention to attract a partner to fund
a larger scale programme."

 

Test Work Results

The results of laboratory test work on a composite sample of historic core
from the historic (2013) Olserum REE resource confirm the potential for the
Olserum mineralisation to be processed using relatively straightforward and
simple beneficiation techniques. The work improves upon the earlier testing in
2013 which was paid for by the European Commission's EURARE research project.
The new test work was carried out at the GTK laboratory in Finland and
overseen by the same expert who was involved in the previous work. Recent
fieldwork including rock chip and channel sampling has identified the same
style of mineralisation across the developing district-scale REE system and
this test work gives confidence that the mineralisation style is amenable to
producing a low volume concentrate with very good recoveries.

Flow Sheet And Test Work

A composite sample weighing approximately 135Kg was first crushed to -1.5 mm
and ground to a suitable size for mineral liberation in a lab rod mill. A
grinding test was conducted for determination of the relationship between the
grinding size and the grinding time. Mineralogical analysis showed that
monazite and xenotime are present at higher contents in the -75μm fraction
compared to the -250μm to +75μm fraction.  The flow sheet was based on 80%
passing around 100μm.

Wet low intensity magnetic separation ("WLIMS") was then conducted to recover
magnetite prior to flotation. The non-magnetic product from the WLIMS was
reported to bulk REE and apatite flotation after dewatering by filtration. A
total of 20 WLIMS and bulk flotation tests were completed to test different
parameters and establish the optimal flotation conditions.

The bulk REE and apatite concentrate was further processed to separate the
REE-phosphates from the apatite by trialling various methods including HGMS,
gravity concentration with a shaking table and further flotation. The
separation of the bulk REE concentrate into a REE concentrate and apatite
concentrate was a new development from previous test work and it was found
that the HGMS was somewhat successful in upgrading the REE grade of the
concentrate albeit with some REE losses to the apatite concentrate.

Figure 1 Beneficiation flowsheet for Olserum style mineralisation.

Results

A high purity magnetite concentrate can be produced using WLIMS prior to
flotation. The magnetite concentrates obtained from the WLIMS tests had grades
of between Fe 59-64% and 80-90% magnetite with very low recoveries of REE and
P, typically 0.12%-0.18 P(2)O(5). The vanadium content is c.0.15% V(2)O(5.)
Magnetite represents 3.76% of the sample according to the MLA (mineral
liberation analysis).

The best results achieved in the set of flotation tests had recoveries ranging
between 84.4% and 92.6% for light rare earth elements (Ce as a proxy for LREE)
and 80.9% and 90.7% for heavy rare earth elements (Y as a proxy for HREE). The
bulk REE-apatite concentrate generated by these tests had grades estimated
between 10.5% and 12.6% TREE.

Following HGMS of the bulk REE-apatite concentrate, a REE concentrate with
grades up to 30-40.11% TREO was produced at initial recoveries of between
55.3-64% for LREE and 53.8-72.5% for HREE respectively, representing a mass
pull of only 1.03-2.04%. The apatite concentrate grade was 33% P(2)O(5) at a
recovery of 57.3% representing a mass pull of 2.8%.

The final upgraded concentrate produced after the HGMS had the following
grades:

 Sample Results - Final Concentrate after HGMS
 REE    % REE          Note                       REO Conversion (REE(2)O(3))  % REO
 Nd     5.010          XRF                        1.1664                       5.844
 Pr     1.050          XRF                        1.208 (Pr(6)O(11))           1.268
 Dy     0.906          XRF (>1000 ppm by ICP)     1.1477                       1.040
 Tb     >0.1           Not determined by XRF      1.176 (Tb(4)O(7))            0.117*
 Ce     10.290         XRF                        1.2284                       12.640
 Er     0.707          XRF                        1.1435                       0.808
 Eu     0.016          ICP                        1.1579                       0.019
 Gd     0.937          XRF                        1.1526                       1.080
 Ho     >0.1           Not determined by XRF      1.1455                       0.115*
 La     4.490          XRF                        1.1728                       5.266
 Lu     0.099          ICP                        1.1371                       0.112
 Sm     0.621          XRF                        1.1596                       0.720
 Y      8.180          XRF                        1.2699                       10.388
 Yb     0.611          XRF                        1.1387                       0.696
 Total  >32.9% REE                                                             40.11% TREO

*capped at 0.1% REE

 

Sample Information, Quality Assurance / Quality Control

The composite sample weighing 135kg was obtained from 149m of quarter core
which was cut from six historic intersections across four drill holes within
the historic 2013 resource at Olserum. The holes which were sampled were
OLO514, OLO513, OLO516 and OLR12004. The core was cut to ¼ core samples at
ALS Minerals in Mala prior to bagging into 6 separate samples for dispatch to
the GTK Circular Economy Solutions Laboratory in Outokumpu, Finland. The
samples were crushed, blended and milled at GTK to provide a further set of 20
sub samples for bench-scale flotation and WLIMS tests.

The head sample was analysed by XRF and ICP-MS, respectively by CRS Laboratory
in Finland and MSA LABS in Canada. The head grade analysis by ICP-MS was 7,045
ppm TREE, equivalent to 0.849% TREO. This was very close to the expected
length-weighted grade of 0.876% TREO based on the historic assay intervals.
The head grade and flotation test analyses by XRF appear to under-report the
REEs compared to ICP-MS analyses which are deemed more accurate. Recoveries
for individual flotation tests were based on XRF analysis of Ce as a proxy for
LREE and Y as a proxy for HREE. High levels of La in the sample caused
interference in the GTK XRF instrument and La was not fully analysed in the
GTK assays but can be estimated based on a consistent correlation to Ce values
in other assays. The final concentrate was analysed at MSA labs in Canada with
all REE elements reported separately.

MSA Labs included blanks and standards within the sample stream to monitor
QAQC (quality assurance and quality control). The difference in recoveries
between LREE and HREE in this announcement reflects the distribution of the
REE elements between the minerals monazite and xenotime with monazite usually
hosting LREE and xenotime hosting HREE. The chief expert supervising the work
at GTK was Jason Yang (Yang Xiao Sheng).

 

Competent Person

All scientific and technical information in this announcement has been
prepared under the supervision of and reviewed and approved by EurGeol Aiden
Lavelle, M.Sc., P.Geo., EGT's Chief Executive Officer. The results reported
here are based on a report provided to the Company by GTK and the contents of
this release have been reviewed by Yang Xiao Sheng at GTK. Mr Lavelle has
sufficient experience 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 in accordance with the guidance note for Mining,
Oil & Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM
Companies, which outlines standards of disclosure for mineral projects. Mr
Lavelle consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on
his information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

 

-ENDS-

 

 

Enquiries

European Green Transition plc

 Aiden Lavelle, CEO    +44 (0) 208 058 6129
 Jack Kelly, CFO

Panmure Liberum- Nominated Adviser and Broker

 James Sinclair-Ford / Dougie McLeod / Ivo Macdonald    + 44 (0) 20 7886 2500

 Mark Murphy / Kieron Hodgson / Rauf Munir

 

Camarco - Financial PR

 Billy Clegg, Elfie Kent, Lily Pettifar, Poppy Hawkins    europeangreentransition@camarco.co.uk
                                                          (mailto:europeangreentransition@camarco.co.uk) + 44 (0) 20 3757 4980

Notes to Editors

 

European Green Transition plc (listed on the AIM London Stock Exchange under
the ticker "EGT") is a business operating in the green economy transition
space in Europe. EGT intends to capitalise on the opportunities created by
Europe's transition away from fossil fuels to a green, renewables-focused
economy. The Company plans to expand its existing portfolio of green economy
assets through M&A, targeting what it believes to be distressed and
undervalued projects. EGT sees substantial opportunities to deliver value from
its M&A pipeline, which includes critical material, wind, solar,
processing and recycling projects.

 

EGT's highly experienced leadership team has a strong track record of building
successful public companies through the acquisition of distressed assets. EGT
plans to replicate this approach, creating a sustainable and profitable
business while generating shareholder returns.

 

The Company's current portfolio of green economy assets includes the Olserum
Rare Earth Project in Sweden. The Olserum project is one of Sweden's projects
of "National Interest" and has the potential to become Europe's first
operating REE mine. EGT has taken an exclusive option over a copper tailings
recycling project in Cyprus with the potential to generate meaningful amounts
of copper, and with the site and surroundings offering an excellent long-term
location to establish a potential solar power facility. EGT has taken a
further exclusive option to develop a peatland carbon sink programme and in
turn generate carbon credits at Altan in Donegal in the northwest of Ireland.
EGT owns additional projects in northern Sweden and Germany which have defined
and tangible upside with potential to realise near-term inflection points in a
cost effective manner. EGT's objective is to build a profitable business while
aiming to monetise some of its assets through sale or partnership with larger
industry players or European end users. The team is focused on success while
remaining committed to its defined ESG strategy, ensuring excellent
development practices across all projects in addition to regular local
community engagement.

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