3 Oct 2013 15:37
REGENCY MINES PLC
("Regency" or the "Company")
Update on Direct Nickel Limited - Test Plant
03 October 2013
Regency Mines plc, a mining exploration and mineral investment company with interests in nickel and other minerals in Australia, Africa, and Papua New Guinea is pleased to announce an update on progress at Direct Nickel Limited ("DNi"), a company in which Regency is a 7.5% shareholder. DNi is the Company's joint venture partner in the Mambare nickel-cobalt laterite project in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea; a project which has a license for the DNi Process.
In a Shareholder Update on 30 September 2013, DNi announced that testing of the DNi nickel laterite treatment process had successfully completed 16 of the 19 planned campaigns.
Campaigns 17 and 18 are expected to be combined into a 24 day continuous run. In his update, DNi CEO Russell Debney states: "…we are very pleased with the results so far. We can confidently predict that we shall have achieved the objective of proving the Process to the point where it is ready for commercial use". Mr Debney also stated that the DNi Process is "now within a couple of months of delivering comprehensive validation through the Test Plant program in Perth".
The full text of the release by DNi is given at http://www.directnickel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Shareholder-UpdateSept-2013.pdf
Regency Chairman Andrew Bell comments: "The results of the 16 campaigns completed to date suggest that 95% or more of the leach acid is being recovered for reuse. The testwork at this pilot plant is at the upper end of our expectations in terms of achievement so far and we believe, therefore, that the effect on process economics of nickel laterite deposits could be profound. Extraction levels on mixed saprolite and limonite material have been encouraging and, as DNi begins work with Antam on site selection for the first commercial DNi plant, they move into a new phase with new horizons. We look forward to the announcement of conclusion of the test process."
Enquiries:
Andrew Bell 020 7747 9960 or 07766 474849 | Chairman Regency Mines plc |
Sandra Spencer 020 7747 9960 or 07757 660 798 | Investor Relations Regency Mines plc |
Colin Aaronson/David Hignell 020 7383 5100 | NOMAD Grant Thornton UK LLP |
Nick Emerson 01483 413500 | Broker SI Capital Ltd |
Guy Wheatley 020 7382 8416 | Joint Broker Beaufort Securities Ltd |
Rupert Trefgarne 020 3128 8817 | Media Relations MHP Communications |
Note to Editors: DNi is a public company incorporated in Australia. It is currently demonstrating a potentially revolutionary process with attractive economics for treating laterite nickel ores (the "DNi Process").
The DNi Process is a hydrometallurgical process for the treatment of nickel laterites. It is designed to operate with tank leaching at atmospheric pressure, and to treat both limonite and saprolite ores with a single flowsheet. The DNi Process claims to recycle its reagents, offer high cobalt and nickel recoveries with short residence time, and to enable the treatment of nickel laterites with industry-competitive capital and operating costs. The DNi Process has the potential to add materially to the prospective value of world nickel laterite resources which receive access to the DNi Process.