LONDON (Alliance News) - Regency Mines PLC Monday said that its partner, Direct Nickel Ltd's nickel production demonstration programme at the DNi test plant in Australia was successful.
The mining exploration and mineral investment company, with interests in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Sudan, said the recently received validation report confirms chemistry that regenerates and recycles reagents within the nickel recovery process and the ability to treat limonite and saprolite ores and blends without loss in nickel recovery.
Regency Mines has a 7% shareholding in Direct Nickel Ltd, a company which is the developer of the DNi process which treats nickel laterites by recycling its reagents.
The process also found that low process intensity does not require high temperatures or pressures and the result is low volume, benign tailings that can be disposed as landfill.
Regency Mines said that there should be valuable by-products of magnesium oxide and hematite, and that processing operating costs should be USD2.00 to USD3.00 per pound, before by-product credits.
The company said the process proved to be simple and safe to operate on a continuous basis with over 95% recycling of nitric acid received and high standards of occupational health, safety and environment demonstrated.
The Direct Nickel report also confirmed its commitment to commercialisation of the new process technology and that a feasibility study is underway to use the process at the Buli site with Indonesia's largest nickel producer ANTAM.
The planned DNi Process commercial plant in Indonesia is expected to produce up to 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes per annum of nickel in concentrate.
Regency Mines shares were up 11.8% to 0.369 pence, putting it in the top AIM movers Monday.
By Tom McIvor; tommcivor@alliancenews.com; @TomMcIvor1
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