Mamba Exploration Encouraged by Results from Initial REE Leaching Testwork
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Mamba Exploration (ASX: M24) has been carrying out initial metallurgical test work on the company’s Hyden rare earth element (REE) project east of Perth in the Western Australian wheatbelt.
Mamba Exploration submitted samples from Hyden for laboratory analysis in May on completion of a drill program.
Initial metallurgical leach tests from nine samples have returned variable results, including:
Southern area leach tests of mafic derived clays returned recovery rates up to 70.6 per cent total rare earth elements-cerium (TREE-Ce) into solution using simple hydrochloric acid (HCl) leaching.
Initial graphitic clay target zone tests returned variable recovery rates up to 19.3 per cent TREE-Ce into solution using simple HCl leaching.
Northern area samples derived from granite bedrock returned recovery results rates of less than 5 per cent.
“While the metallurgical leach results are variable, from the initial tests it is clear the greenstone hosted mineralisation in the Southern area can be readily leached, with tests showing up to 70.6 per cent recovery into solution with a relatively simple acid leach,” Mamba Exploration non-executive chairman Justin Boylson said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“While the recoverability of the granite and felsic hosted mineralisation is low, additional work is planned to better determine the REE mineralogy to understand the source of the mineralisation and to determine if the material can be beneficiated to allow alternative extraction or upgrading of the REE minerals.”
Mamba Exploration indicated mineralogical testwork is being planned to enable the company to enhance its understanding of the mineralogy of the host material and the associated REE.
Additional testwork is likely to include QEMSCAN, an automated mineralogical analysis technique, manual scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and quantitative X-ray Diffraction (XRD).
The company anticipates these tests to be completed in in the near term, with results released as available.
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