31 Jul 2015 07:00
BMR Mining PLC
("BMR" or the "Company")
Significant Testing Progress Update
BMR Mining PLC, the Zambian-focused mineral processing business, is pleased to announce significant progress on its testing results.
Highlights:
- Wash Plant Tailings demonstrate materially increased lead and zinc recoveries during additional laboratory optimisation testing;
- successful recovery of lead and zinc products by precipitation and electro winning from the pregnant liquor solution;
- potential recovery of 77% of zinc from Imperial Smelting furnace slag, a resource that was previously written off;
- recognising positive metallurgical work undertaken, the Company intends to commence pilot processing plant operations this financial year.
Alex Borrelli, CEO and Chairman, commented:
"We are delighted to have achieved positive progress across our recent metallurgical testing which could significantly enhance the inherent value of the Company's commercial interests going forward. While shareholders should be aware that the results of the laboratory tests may not be matched by commercial processing, we are confident that the processes are scalable and we will move quickly through to the pilot plant stage of evaluation.
"As shareholders will likely appreciate there is still further work to undertake but receiving this positive data at this stage makes a tremendous difference and greatly encourages the BMR team.
"We are enthusiastically pushing forward and further operational news updates will follow in the near term as the Company continues its work."
Wash Plant Tailings
The Company is pleased to announce that, following further laboratory testing, our optimisation of the proposed acid/brine leach process has resulted in the possibility of achieving higher metal recoveries from the Wash Plant Tailings (WPT) than previously reported.
The WPT was estimated by Mineral Corporation Consultancy (Pty), in its March 2012 report, to contain 573,458 dry tonnes (JORC compliant) at a mean grade of 10.66% Zn and 7.21% Pb (61.4kt contained Zn and 41.3kt contained Pb).
The potential lead and zinc recoveries that have been achieved into a Pregnant Liquor Solution (PLS) are 94.2% Pb and 79.6% Zn. These higher recoveries compare favourably with the earlier test results announced of 80% Pb and 70% Zn for the WPT and proving the commercial viability of scaling this new process will be the next stage of our evaluation.
This test work was carried out in conjunction with the Company's Mineral Processing Partner in its metallurgical test laboratory and was witnessed by Jeremy Hawke, Director, and Dr Geoff Casson, General Manager, Kabwe.
Final Products
The Company also announces the successful recovery in testing by precipitation and electro winning from the PLS of the following products:
· a lead sponge with a grade of 96% Pb
· a rough zinc cathode with a grade of 98.72% Zn
· a refined zinc cathode with a grade of 99.6% Zn
Imperial Smelting Furnace Slag (ISF Slag)
The Company was advised last year that the effective economic recovery of zinc from the ISF slag would prove difficult, being brittle and hard to process, and consequently the value of this resource was written off in the 2014 Annual Report.
The ISF slag had been estimated by Mineral Corporation Consultancy (Pty), in its March 2012 report to contain 1,481,563 dry tonnes (non-JORC) at a mean grade of 8.07% Zn (119.6kt contained Zn).
As the ISF slag comprises a significant unexploited zinc resource, the Directors decided to re-examine the potential for the recovery of zinc from this source and we have been working closely with our consultants in order to assess commercial feasibility. Following recent mineralogical and exploratory metallurgical test work the Company is pleased to announce that, in conjunction with its Mineral Processing Partner, a recovery of 77.2% Zn has been successfully achieved in laboratory analysis. This metallurgical test work was also witnessed by Jeremy Hawke and Dr Geoff Casson.
Further work will now be undertaken to optimise this recovery and to establish if it can also be processed by the proposed flow sheet for the other Kabwe tailings and residues. In the event that this further work concludes positively, the Company will commission a JORC compliant survey of the ISF slag.
Pilot Plant Processes and Intellectual Property
The metallurgical processes that have been developed to achieve the recoveries and final products above are proprietary to BMR and your Directors are taking the appropriate steps to protect this intellectual property. These processes are being incorporated into the design of the Kabwe pilot plant.
Subject to the approval of the Zambian Environmental Management Agency ("ZEMA") when finalised plans are submitted within the next four weeks, the Company intends to commence pilot plant operations in this financial year. It is also the intention of the Company to process first the higher-grade, higher-recovery WPT to generate initial returns from the Company's asset base.
Note:
This release has been reviewed by Geoff Casson, B.Sc. (Hons), PhD, R Eng (Zambia), Member Engineering Institute of Zambia (Metallurgy), General Manager of the Company's Zambian subsidiary, Enviro Processing Ltd, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the guidance note for Mining, Oil & Gas Companies issued by the London Stock Exchange in respect of AIM Companies.
Ends
For further information:
BMR Mining PLC 020 7734 6252
Alex Borrelli, CEO and Chairman
WH Ireland Limited 020 7220 1666
Chris Fielding, Head of Corporate Finance