Alkane Resources has unveiled the recoveries from latest stage of the metallurgical testwork program completed at the Northern Molong Porphyry project.
The Northern Molong Porphyry project is located near Wellington in the central west region of NSW, and its deposits extend over three kilometres from Kaiser, through Boda to Boda 2–3. Assay results were recently published from 11,000m of drilling at the Kaiser deposit.
Alkane said the metallurgical testwork completed this year compared to last year is “more substantial and provides a good basis for recovery estimation and preliminary engineering design”.
Alkane used the 2023 testwork to understand ore hardness and comminution characteristics, ore mineralogy and geochemical relationships, optimal grind size, amenability to gold and copper recovery by froth flotation, and amenability to gold cyanidation.
The overall recovery for Boda is estimated at 87.4 per cent of copper and 80.9 per cent of gold, and the overall recovery for Kaiser is about 79.6 per cent of copper and 70.7 per cent of gold.
“The metallurgical testwork program has been underway for many months with the overall goal of identifying the optimal means of processing ore from the Boda and Kaiser prospects and subsequent establishment of the most viable flowsheet,” Alkane managing director Nic Earner said.
“The results announced today clearly meet this goal, with our initial recovery expectations exceeded. The high recoveries from the Boda ore are particularly pleasing as the concentrates produced were of a saleable quality with very low impurities, which is another box ticked.”
The results from the 2023 testwork has been supplied to an engineering firm for a scoping level estimate of plant design and associated cost. Alkane is expected to publish the results in the second quarter of 2024.
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