A comprehensive metallurgical program at Venture Minerals’ Jupiter deposit has revealed an opportunity to upgrade the clay-hosted rare earth mineralisation.
Venture’s technical team have conducted a series of reviews of the mineralogical data to inform the design of metallurgical processing routes and align them with Jupiter’s style of mineralisation. The program follows on from the initial resource drill-out.
The initial test work will focus on removing coarse quartz, iron oxides, and feldspar via common, cost-effective physical separation methods to upgrade the clay-hosted rare earth mineralisation.
The purpose of this initial work is to assess the potential and efficacy for creating a beneficiated product, because of the significant benefits that beneficiation could yield. This program will inform and be a precursor to subsequent extractive metallurgical testwork.
The broader metallurgical program is planned to follow in stages and will be conducted across several independent laboratories. Different testwork may be conducted in parallel or in series, to deliver results as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Venture Minerals’ Managing Director, Philippa Leggat, said the company is focused on making smart decisions that give Jupiter the best chance of being a successful mining operation in the future.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to rare earths, and that means doing the work to build a meaningful foundation, which is particularly important with a project as big as Jupiter.
“We have completed an extensive resource drill-out across the 40km2 area and have taken the time to understand our mineralisation so that we can make decisions based on data. That process is ongoing and allows us to incorporate data as we receive assays or test results.”
Ms Leggat said the team’s mineralogy work has identified the opportunity to significantly upgrade the clay-hosted rare earth mineralisation by removing non-rare earth minerals like quartz and iron oxides before rare earth element extraction is conducted.
“We’re looking at the potential to create a beneficiated product by reducing the overall volume of material we might process using cost-effective, industry-standard methods to remove waste. Beneficiation has the potential to substantially reduce the volume of material that is processed, which in turn could result in lower capital and operating costs for a future mining operation.
“Jupiter is located within an existing mining precinct supported by excellent, existing infrastructure, including rare earth processing facilities within trucking distance on bitumen highways,” she said. “It becomes is easy to see that Jupiter is well-positioned for future success and the work we are doing is designed to enhance that potential.”
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