PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Neometals has shipped a 53 t bulk sample from its Barrambie titanium/vanadium deposit, in Western Australia, for metallurgical testwork in China.
The company on Tuesday said that as part of the marketing of a direct shipping ore (DSO) product into China, a number of leading mining and metallurgy research institutes have tendered for beneficiation and pyrometallurgical testwork to confirm the optimal pathway for the extraction of titanium, vanadium and iron products.
The work was required by prospective Chinese buyers in order to confirm recoveries and product qualities, and would form the basis of negotiating offtake pricing.
“As we progress the dual-track evaluation of DSO and integrated titanium/vanadium chemical production, it is critical we give comfort to potential Chinese customers of the quality and value of the Barrambie DSO product,” said Neometals CEO Chris Reed.
“Undertaking testwork programmes at the leading research institutes in China is a key step in the marketing and pricing of a DSO product and a feedstock for the traditional smelters or titanium chemical producers.”
Testwork will also start at an Australian laboratory to confirm Chinese results.
Neometals last year announced plans to fast-track the start-up of the Barrambie project as a DSO operation, and has lodged a draft mining proposal for a small operation to extract some 50 000 t of ore.