LONDON (Alliance News) - Alexander Mining PLC shares spiked Tuesday after the company's subsidiary, MetaLeach Ltd, was granted a patent for a method of leaching zinc silicate ores in Turkey.
Shares in Alexander Mining were up 47% Tuesday afternoon at 0.077 pence each.
The AIM listed mining and mineral processing technology company said the patent will remain in place until 2033.
"The granting of our zinc silicate leaching patent in Turkey is a significant achievement. Zinc silicate mineralisation comprises a significant proportion of non-sulphide zinc ores targeted for use by our AmmLeach process. High grade zinc oxide deposits are particularly prevalent in Turkey, which has a significant historic and current zinc direct shipping ore mining sector," said Chief Executive Martin Rosser.
The company said the patent "compliments" the agreement it signed in early 2018 with Proses, which is looking to establish a semi-industrial processing plant using the patented AmmLeach technology.
"This would be the key precursor for a potential large industrial scale commercial operation to address the growing Turkish trade deficit in finished base metals. Alexander looks forward to providing an update on this project in due course," said Rosser.
Prior to the AmmLeach process, Alexander Mining said lower grade zinc oxide ores could be left untreated, although typically lower than 10%. "Accordingly, there are large multi-million tonnes resources with a zinc grade as low as 5% which are potentially suitable for economical treatment using AmmLeach," added Rosser.
