Tasman Metals Completes Magnetic Separation Pilot Plant at Norra Karr

Tasman Metals (TSXV:TSM) has completed a beneficiation pilot plant test on mineralized rock from the Norra Karr rare earth project in Sweden. Optimal separation equipment was not available for the testwork, but the pilot plant still performed well.
As quoted in the press release:

The pilot plant was run at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) in Outokumpu, with the cost borne by the EURARE project, of which Tasman is a research partner. EURARE is a research project co-funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (Grant Agreement NMP2-LA-2012-309373).
A 6.5 tonne sample of representative Norra Karr mineralized rock was collected via drilling during 2014 with the support of EURARE. From this sample 5.6 tonnes was crushed, ground and magnetically separated as per Tasman’s pre-feasibility study (PFS) flow sheet. A scavenging magnetic separation stage was also tested, to determine the possibility for enhanced recovery. Greater than 95% of REE’s at Norra Karr are contained within the zirconosilicate mineral eudialyte. Eudialyte is para-magnetic, and concentrates well using wet magnetic separation. Magnetic separation does not require any process chemicals.
Although the optimal magnetic separation equipment selected by Tasman’s previous bench scale work was not available at GTK, the pilot plant performed well, and in line with results from bench scale testing when using similar equipment. The magnetic separation pilot plant was run continuously for 6 hours on each of 3 days, and 79% yttrium (Y) recovery was achieved in a mass of 34.8%. The full set of REE analytical data is not yet available.
The pilot plant has produced approximately 1.9 tonnes of eudialyte/REE enriched mineral concentrate. This mineral concentrate is available for scaled up hydrometallurgical testwork by the ERECON team, and Tasman’s other research partners. This work is now being planned and scheduled.
In addition to the REE enriched concentrate, some 3.7 tonnes (65% of original sample) of nepheline and feldspar by-product was also produced. Nepheline and feldspar are industrial minerals with large European market in ceramics, glass, cement, building material and metallurgical industries. Nepheline and feldspar are for example widely consumed in the manufacture of bathroom ceramics, roof and floor tiles, crockery, building fillers, paints, cement and even cosmetics.
Tasman’s previous test work on the nepheline/feldspar by-product from Norra Karr has shown it to be low in iron, and with key characteristics similar to material being used industrially across Europe today. This material is now being subsampled and screened in preparation for product and market development activities to progress commercialization.

Tasman Metals president and CEO, Mark Saxon, said:

While the optimal magnetic separation equipment was not available for this pilot plant test, we are nevertheless very pleased with the result, as it mirrors the bench scale testwork. We now have a substantial volume of mineral concentrate with which to further optimize our rare earth element hydrometallurgical flowsheet from that assumed under the PFS.

Click here for the full press release.