Mr. Lewis Black reports
ALMONTY ANNOUNCES INITIATIVES TO ENHANCE TAILINGS RECOVERY AT ITS PANASQUIERA MINE AND THE FILING OF AN UPDATED TECHNICAL REPORT ON ITS WOLFRAM CAMP MINE
Almonty Industries Inc.'s fully owned subsidiary, Beralt Tin and Wolfram
(Portugal) SA, which operates the Panasqueira tungsten mine in
Portugal, has reached a comprehensive agreement with Crominet Mining
Processing SA (Pty.) Ltd., which is expected to
result in an increase to its overall recovery.
Currently, at Panasqueira, a heavy media separation unit generates a
preconcentrate, which is then upgraded by gravimetric methods to produce
an outstanding final concentrate containing 75 per cent WO3 (tungsten trioxide), considered to be
the highest commercially available grade in the world.
Tailings from the said heavy media separation unit containing, in
average, 0.03 per cent WO3 were sent to Crominet facilities where XRT sorting
tests showed a possible recovery of up to 93.6 per cent of the contained
tungsten. The preconcentrate here obtained will be upgraded on the
existing installations together with the preconcentrate referred above.
Under the agreement with Crominet, Crominet will install and operate at
Panasqueira an XRT ore sorter and respective ancillary equipment with
enough capacity to treat the totality of the tailings generated by the
heavy media separation unit.
This XRT ore sorter installation is scheduled to start operating by
October, 2017.
The extra recovery expected to be achieved could represent a
conservative increase of 10 per cent on Panasqueira's annual production.
Depending on how the extra recovery is ultimately measured, the
installation of more XRT ore sorters to reclaim material from other
tailings facilities may be considered.
Almonty has also filed an updated technical report under
National Instrument 43-101 standards of disclosure for mineral
projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators to reflect
developments at the Wolfram Camp mine. The technical report provides for
updated operational costs, both in mine, plant and G&A (general and administrative expenses).
Plant upgrades are currently being implemented, which are expected to
increase plant processing capacity from 400,000 tonnes per year to 518,000 tonnes per year.
The design focus for recent updates to the plant process has been to
improve the recovery of wolframite by minimizing overgrinding of the
ore. This will be achieved by increasing the number of ore crushing and
screening stages, thereby improving the control of the grinding process.
By removing the ball mill (as used previously) and using instead
additional cone crushers, it is intended that the generation of
excessive quantities of ultrafines will be avoided.
As a result of the plant updates, a different type of tailings will be
produced. Rather than a homogenous tailings, the tailings will be
classified into a fine and a coarse fraction. The coarse fraction can
then be dry-stacked efficiently, with the advantage of not occupying
volume within the tailings dam. This material may also potentially be
used to facilitate site rehabilitation works. It is expected that the
fine fraction will represent approximately 10 per cent of the tailings generated
instead of the entire amount as previously was happening. Along with the
mass reduction obtained using the ore sorters, the gravimetric circuit
will only be fed with 55.6 per cent of the overall processed tonnage. Therefore,
the fine tailings fraction tonnage will be 5.56 per cent of the overall plant
feed. Based on current modelling, the plant feed is expected to be
518,400 tonnes per year, meaning the fine tailings fraction will be 28,823
tonnes per year. This much reduced fine tailings output will delay the need
for developing a new tailings storage facility.
Alternative methods for disposal of fine tailings are also being
considered, which include use of a filter press to produce a filter
cake and possible use of the current main pit when it has been
exhausted.
Current modelling implies that 90 per cent of the total tailings produced will
be coarse tailings, which represents approximately 50 per cent of the total
plant feed. It is planned that the coarse tailings fraction will be
stored downstream of the TSF2 embankment. This will initially permit the
collection of the residual process water in the existing mine water dam
(MWD) for reuse in the plant. During this stage, another water dam that
is already approved as the mine water management dam (MWMD) will be
constructed downstream of both the MWD and TSF3. This would permit the
former MWD to be backfilled with tailings and subsequently permit use of
the entire area between the TSF3 and TSF2 walls to be used to store
coarse tailings. It would also provide a more suitable dam for water
storage and recovery.
It is planned to utilize a water treatment plant to thicken the fine
tailings fraction and to provide clarified water for reuse in the
processing plant. Historically, the lack of clean recycled water has
caused problems in the processing plant, with accelerated wear of
equipment and diminished separation performance in the flotation and
gravity circuits. It is anticipated that in addition to improving the
physical properties of the water, there will be an increased water
recovery efficiency, as the tailings are better dewatered prior to
disposal.
Almonty chairman, president and chief executive officer Lewis Black said:
"We anticipate that this agreement with Crominet will allow us to
enhance productivity at Panasquiera and [thus] contribute to improved
financial performance. We continue to work with Crominet to assess all
our current projects in Spain, Australia and Korea in regard to
efficient reprocessing of our tailings. Crominet have expressed that
they are extremely comfortable in working with what they consider to be
an extremely professional and knowledgeable tungsten team at Almonty. In
addition, the conclusions of the updated technical report at the Wolfram
Camp mine equally are expected to drive further efficiency of
production. These represent further measures deployed by Almonty to
provide for increased efficiency in its operations, which has allowed us
to weather the downturn in pricing for tungsten concentrate."
About Almonty Industries Inc.
The principal business of Almonty
is the mining, processing and shipping of tungsten concentrate from its
Los Santos mine in western Spain, its Wolfram Camp mine in north
Queensland, Australia, and its Panasqueira mine in Portugal, as well as
the development of the Sangdong tungsten mine in Gangwon province, Korea,
and the Valtreixal tin/tungsten project in northwestern Spain.
We seek Safe Harbor.
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