JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Testwork carried out last year on the hydrometallurgical processing of ores from the ASX-listed Montezuma’s 100%-owned Butcherbird manganese project, in Western Australia, has triggered the decision to immediately start a scoping study, the company said on Tuesday.
In a statement, Montezuma outlined that the results had exceeded expectations and achieved the required specification to produce high-purity manganese products, with the study now aiming to assess the options for project development and provide an assessment of the potential capital and operating cost requirements for project development.
In the event that a successful scoping study was delivered, a decision to proceed to a preliminary feasibility study would be considered, the company said.
Further, Montezuma intends to expedite this process to take advantage of strong market conditions around commodity markets and more specifically in relation to those metals required for lithium-ion battery production, which includes high-purity manganese.
“The low cost chemical processes required to process our ore have been established and we are excited to now move in to the commercial assessment phase to show the market the real potential that this project offers,” executive director Justin Brown said.
To expedite the initial study phase, the company has appointed experienced mining consultant Ian Huitson to manage the study.