Alexander Mining Gets 20-Year US Patent For Leaching Method

LONDON (Alliance News) - Alexander Mining PLC Wednesday said its subsidiary has been awarded a 20-year US patent for the company's method of leaching copper and molybdenum.

The mineral processing technology company said its subsidiary, MetaLeach Ltd, has been awarded the patent which will now form part of the subsidiary's family of core AmmLeach technologies, it said.

The patent covers a method for leaching copper and molybdenum from a material in which more than 1% weight for weight of the total molybdenum is present as a sulphide and in which more than 1% weight for weight of the total copper is present as an oxide.

The method involves exposing the ore, residue or concentrate to an aqueous solution of chlorine-based oxidising species, oxidising the molybdenum to produce a treated material, leaching the treated ore, residue or concentrate by exposing it to an aqueous ammoniacal ammonium carbonate solution, which in turn forms a pregnant leach solution containing both copper and molybdenum.

The company is then able to recover both the copper and molybdenum from the pregnant leach solution.

Alexander shares were up 6.7% to 0.800 pence per share on Wednesday morning.

By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance

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