MG14/Windabout copper/cobalt/silver project, Australia.
Name and Location
MG14/Windabout copper/cobalt/silver project, Mount Gunson, Australia.
Client
Gunson Resources.
Torrens Mining has the right to earn a 51% interest in the MG14/Windabout project by completing, at its sole cost, all tests and studies deemed necessary to determine the viability of a process to economically extract copper, cobalt and silver from the MG14 and Windabout deposits.
It must also deliver a bankable feasibility study (BFS).
All activities, costs, and risks through the BFS and up to the point of a decision to mine will also be at Torrens’ sole cost, subject to a maximum cumulative expenditure of $2.5-million.
Project Description
MG14 has a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (Jorc) 2012 classified indicated resource of 1.62-million tonnes averaging 1.4% copper, 397 parts per million (ppm) cobalt and 14 g/t silver at a 0.5% copper cutoff. The larger Windabout deposit has a pre-2000 Jorc-indicated resource of 18.7-million tonnes averaging 1% copper, 500 ppm cobalt and 10 g/t silver at a 0.5% copper cutoff.
Gunson’s farm-in partner, Torrens Mining, has completed its initial scoping study on the commercial production of copper, cobalt, and silver from the MG14 and Windabout deposits at Mount Gunson, in South Australia.
Torrens conducted a series of metallurgical tests designed to confirm the viability of using a sodium cyanide leaching process to economically extract copper from these shale-hosted deposits and to recycle the bulk of the sodium cyanide.
These bench-top laboratory tests demonstrated copper recoveries of 80% to 85%, with upside potential of more than 90% based on the cyanide-soluble copper remaining in the leach residue. The tests also indicated sodium cyanide regeneration of more than 80%.
These results are in contrast to those achieved during a test programme conducted in 2010 using conventional sulphide flotation, which resulted in copper recoveries ranging between 54% and 68%.
Although still subject to completion of further studies, these proof of concept results are critically important because they suggest that copper can be economically leached from the MG14 and Windabout deposits.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.
Value
None stated.
Duration
None stated.
Latest Developments
Torrens has committed to additional metallurgical testwork, which will lead to a prefeasibility report of acceptable standard to allow for the completion of process design and the estimation of capital and operating costs, with an accuracy of plus or minus 20%.
The prefeasibility work will involve refining the leaching process to maximise copper recovery, including a closer examination of the effects of temperature and grind size on recoveries, as well as optimising the cyanide recovery system and examining the flotation of the cobalt and silver components.
This phase of the work is expected to take about three months to complete.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Gunson Resources, tel +61 8 9226 3130, fax +61 8 9226 3136 or email enquiries@gunson.com.au.
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