TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vanadium producer Largo Resources on Wednesday announced that it had commissioned a prefeasibility study (PFS) to examine the potential to produce saleable platinum concentrates at its Maracas Menchen mine, in Bahia, Brazil.

As part of the current vanadium production process, run-of-mine platinum contained in the nonmagnetic material was magnetically separated during the beneficiation process and stockpiled in tailings.

The company said it had already conducted positive preliminary investigations into the potential to produce platinum concentrate as a by-product to vanadium pentoxide output.

Engineering and project management company DRA Taggart, which is part of the South African DRA Group, is conducting the PFS to formally evaluate potential platinum output and to determine the prospective economics for the project.

Largo expected to announce the report's findings in the New Year.

The company was currently evaluating its ability to monetise these by-products for financial planning purposes.

The Maracas mine was currently ramping up to its boilerplate capacity, and following several setbacks, Largo on Wednesday confirmed that it expected to declare commercial production in the first quarter of 2015.

TUNGSTEN WOES

Meanwhile, Largo said that it was evaluating a decision by an arbitration tribunal to award $8.23-million plus interest and a portion of the buyer’s legal costs under the company's Currais Novos tungsten supply agreement.

Largo’s Currais Novos tungsten tailing project, which was processing tailings material left from the Barra Verde and Boca de Laje mines, had been on care and maintenance since a severe draught forced it to shut down in October 2012. The draught proved persistent and the facility, also plagued by technical difficulties, has not been producing tungsten ever since.

The company disclosed in its September-quarter management discussion and analysis report that it had been engaged since June 2013 in arbitration proceedings related to an agreement to supply tungsten from the project.

The arbitral panel rendered a final award on November 26, prompting Largo to increase its best-estimate cumulative provision of about C$4.2-million for potential liability, to C$10.5-million.