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Allup Silica Limited (ASX: APS) (“Allup” or “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on works to progress development of its 100%-owned McLaren Valuable Heavy Mineral Sands (VHMS) Project near Balledonia, WA.
Summary
- IHC Mining Consultants (IHC) has commenced initial stages of McLaren Mineral Sands Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) engineering design
- Initial design Scope based on 10Mtpa throughput to produce up to 400,000tpa ilmenite product
- Previous metallurgical test work completed by IHC Competent Persons in 2018 demonstrates good ilmenite recoveries from a conventional mineral sands flowsheet
- Allup plans to commence infill drilling program at McLaren in Q4, 2024
- Environmental Resources Management (ERM) appointed to plan infill drilling program and update Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) once drilling results are received.
- PFS expected to be completed during Q2 2025
Allup is able to leverage extensive previous work to accelerate completion of the PFS for the project which is being completed by IHC Mining Consultants (IHC) (see ASX Announcement dated 26 August 2024).
Allup is also preparing a drilling program for the project in Q4 CY24 to enable an update of the existing Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in early 2025, and to investigate potential to increase the known resource.
Previous IHC Metallurgical Testwork Results
In 2018, IHC completed a metallurgical testwork program on a representative sample derived from a 14-tonne bulk sample from the McLaren deposit. The sample assayed approximately 7.2% heavy mineral. Mineralogical analyses of the heavy mineral indicate it to contain 56.3% ilmenites and higher grade titanium minerals such as Leucoxene.
The IHC metallurgical test work program confirmed the material to be amenable to standard mineral sands processing methodologies, utilising typical mineral sands equipment.
Table 1: Results from IHC testwork completed in 2018
Ilmenite recovery from WCP feed into the CUP Magnetic stream was ~75% of ilmenite, Altered Ilmenite and HiTi minerals. Overall recovery of rutile/anatase from the WCP feed into the non-magnetic concentrate was ~57% Overall recovery of zircon from the WCP feed into the CUP non-magnetic concentrate was ~70%.
Slimes settling was achieved using addition of 3% gypsum, resulting in significant improvement in flocculant dosing rates, down to 150-200g/t.
The test work produced final products of:
- Ilmenite of a suitable grade to be classified as sulphate ilmenite
- Rutile of a typical quality with 95.7% TiO2, 1.49% Fe2O3,
- Zircon of a typical standard zircon quality, noting levels of U + Th at 265ppm were considered very low.
Flowsheet Development
The IHC 2018 test work resulted in the development of a conceptual flowsheet using traditional mineral sands separation techniques. It consisted of three circuits, comprising:
- Feed Preparation - made up of hydrocyclones and a thickener used to settle and separate the slimes. The slimes fraction would be returned to the mining void along with the tails stream. The non-slimes portion would be fed to the WCP.
- Wet Concentration Plant (WCP) - made up of several spiral stages (gravity separation) – the WCP process produced a Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) containing 89.1% heavy mineral, 25.9% TiO2 and 0.37% ZrO2.
- Concentrate Upgrade Plant (CUP) - screening to remove +425 µm material (determined by test work to be barren), then several stages, primarily of magnetic separation.
The HMC produced in the WCP was processed through the CUP to produce a magnetic concentrate suitable for an ilmenite process circuit and a non-magnetic concentrate containing 90-95% Heavy Mineral.
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Types of Iron Ore: Hematite vs. Magnetite
What is hematite ore?
Hematite ore, also called direct-shipping ore, has naturally high iron content suitable for steelmaking. Because of its high iron content, hematite ore must undergo only a simple crushing, screening and blending process before being shipped off for steel production. For that reason, hematite ore is important for many mining companies.
Hematite ore is found throughout the world, with major production hotspots being Australia, Brazil, China and India.
In Australia, hematite has been the primary type of iron ore mined since the early 1960s. Nearly all of Australia's iron ore exports are high-grade hematite ore, and the majority of its reserves are located in the Hamersley mountain range of Western Australia because the range sits on a banded iron formation.
BHP (ASX:BHP,LSE:BHP,NYSE:BHP) is Australia’s leading iron ore producer and has several mining and processing hubs in Western Australia. Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,LSE:RIO,NYSE:RIO) is also a major iron ore producer in the country, especially in the Pilbara region. One of its key iron producing operations is the Hope Downs iron ore complex, a 50/50 joint venture with Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.
Brazil is another of the world’s main sources of hematite ore. The country's Carajás mine, operated by major miner Vale (NYSE:VALE), is the largest iron ore mine in existence. Vale consistently ranks among the world's five largest mining companies and is the world's biggest producer of iron ore pellets. Its primary iron ore assets are in the Iron Quadrangle region of Brazil's Minas Gerais state.
A great deal of hematite ore is also mined in China. Known reserves include the Tung-Yeh-Chen and Dongye hematite ore deposits.
What is magnetite ore?
Mishainik / Adobe Stock
The mineral magnetite is a highly magnetic mineral found in solid and crystal forms. Magnetite actually has higher iron content than hematite. However, while hematite ore generally contains large concentrations of hematite, magnetite ore tends to hold low concentrations of the mineral magnetite. As a result, this type of iron ore ore must be concentrated before it can be used to produce steel. Magnetite ore’s magnetic properties are helpful during this process.
Magnetite ore may require more treatment than hematite ore, but end products made from magnetite ore are typically of higher quality than those made from hematite ore. That’s because magnetite ore has fewer impurities than hematite ore; in this way, the elevated cost of processing it can be balanced out.
Magnetite ore is currently mined in Minnesota and Michigan in the US, as well as in taconite deposits in Eastern Canada. A major mining site in Michigan is the Marquette Range, which hosts four types of iron ore deposits, including both magnetite and hematite ore.
In Minnesota, magnetite ore is mined mainly in the Mesabi Range, one of the four ranges that make up the state's Iron Range. Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) is a major player in the magnetite ore industry and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. Its Hibbing Taconite joint venture in Minnesota’s Mesabi Range has an annual capacity of around 7 million metric tons of magnetite ore.
In Canada, many mining companies focus on exploration and development in the iron-rich Labrador Trough, which runs through parts of the provinces of Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2013.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
