Outstanding Results as Crossland/Pancon Completes Initial Heavy Mineral Concentrate Pilot Test Work, Charley Creek Project, N...
19 Setembro 2012 - 7:30AM
Marketwired Canada
Pancontinental Uranium Corporation ("Pancon" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:PUC)
is pleased to announce that its Joint Venture partner, Crossland Uranium Mines
Limited ("Crossland"), issued the following press release today in Australia,
regarding the Charley Creek REE project in NT, Australia:
HIGHLIGHTS:
-- Conventional Heavy Mineral concentration processes deliver outstanding
results
-- Wet Plant test flowsheet upgrades Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) to grade
of over 12%, with recovery of 68%.
-- Dry Plant test flowsheet produced a final concentrate containing over
41% TREO, with recovery of 77%.
-- Further process optimisation is expected to substantially lift mineral
recoveries.
-- These results confirm that the xenotime/monazite rare earth bearing
minerals at Charley Creek can be successfully concentrated using low-
cost technology used by the mineral sand industry, and significantly de-
risks the proposed process flow-sheet for the project.
"Crossland's confidence that the Charley Creek Project can become an
early, low cost, and long-term producer of valuable rare earth oxides is
reinforced by these recent results."
Pilot Plant Program
A pilot plant program evaluating the complete Wet and Dry plants (gravity
separation methods, followed by magnetic and electrostatic separation) has been
completed. A metallurgical bulk composite sample of alluvium from 12 test pits
across the Charley Creek project in the Northern Territory was tested. Results
from this program now confirm that xenotime/monazite can be successfully
concentrated into a high grade REO mineral concentrate using conventional low
cost heavy mineral sand beneficiation techniques.
The pilot program was conducted at Allied Mineral Laboratories Pty Ltd (AML) in
Perth WA under the supervision of Crossland's metallurgical consultant.
Wet Plant testwork
Wet gravity plant test work achieved a recovery of 68% TREO (Total Rare Earth
Oxide) at a grade of 12.53% TREO contained within 0.81wt % of the initial feed.
Achieving a grade of over 12% TREO from a simple spiral test circuit confirms
that processing of sized feed material from Charley Creek is very amenable to
beneficiation by gravity. A number of simple flowsheet improvements have been
identified to further improve TREO recoveries during the next phase of test
work.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Grade (wt. %)
----------------------------------------
Percent
Mass LREO MREO HREO TREO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wet Plant Concentrate 0.81% 10.95 0.52 1.06 12.53
--------------------------------------------------
Recovery (%)
--------------------------------------------------
69 66 55 68
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: MREO consists of oxides of Sm, Eu and Gd, while HREO consists of
oxides of Tb to Lu from the Lanthanide series, plus Y.
Dry Plant testwork
The Wet plant concentrate product was then processed via conventional
electrostatic and magnetic separation (Dry Plant) techniques to produce a high
grade heavy mineral concentrate product averaging 41.25% TREO at a recovery of
77.6% TREO. Again, there are a number of opportunities identified during this
phase to further improve recoveries, while maintaining TREO grade at 40%. Zircon
and other valuable heavy mineral recoveries should also improve with these
modifications.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Grade (wt. %)
----------------------------------------
Percent
Mass LREO MREO HREO TREO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dry Plant Concentrate 0.18% 36.04 1.54 3.67 41.25
--------------------------------------------------
Recovery (%)
--------------------------------------------------
78.1 75.7 73.2 77.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
These results confirm xenotime/monazite rare earth bearing minerals at Charley
Creek can be successfully concentrated by conventional mineral sand flowsheet
used for recovery of titanium minerals and zircon. Crossland retains substantial
additional material from the same test pits used for this work on-site at
Charley Creek, to enable on-going optimisation work.
These new results have significantly de-risked the proposed process flowsheet as
far as production of a heavy mineral concentrate composed dominantly of the
valuable REE bearing minerals. Crossland has been encouraged by potential
purchasers of Charley Creek output to explore rapid development of
xenotime/monazite concentrate production as a first step in staged development
of Charley Creek. These results will aid in the preparation of a scoping study
(Preliminary Economic Assessment) to assess project economics. This study is due
for completion before the end of 2012. The work now completed represents a major
component of that study.
The market was advised on August 28 that a 400kg sample of tabled heavy mineral
concentrate (HMC1) produced on site from 7 tonne of alluvial material in the
Cattle Creek alluvial fan has been transported to AML in Perth. This material
will be upgraded to produce a large quantity of greater than 40% xenotime/
monazite dry plant concentrate for on-going test work to confirm that this
concentrate is amenable to standard methods of REO extraction, as well as to
provide samples for examination by potential off-take buyers.
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral
Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Geoffrey S Eupene
CP, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He is a
director of the Company and a full time employee of Eupene Exploration
Enterprises Pty Ltd. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the
styles of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration, and to the
activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in
the December 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code). Geoffrey S Eupene
has consented to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this
information in the form and context in which it appears.
About Pancontinental Uranium Corporation
Pancontinental Uranium Corporation ("Pancon") is a Canadian-based company
focused on uranium and REE discovery and development. Through a joint venture
with Crossland Uranium Mines Limited ("Crossland") of Australia, Pancon has
established one of the strongest management teams in the uranium industry. This
management and operating team has unparalleled experience from exploration,
through development to operations, and includes people who were instrumental in
the discovery of two of the largest uranium deposits in the world. Pancon and
Crossland hold an impressive uranium and REE exploration portfolio with projects
in prolific, mining friendly districts.
Exploration is ongoing or has occurred at three Australian projects which
include Chilling, Charley Creek, and Kalabity. The Chilling project has the
potential to host a mirror image of a portion of the renowned Alligator Rivers
Uranium Field containing the large Jabiluka, Ranger and Koongarra deposits.
Charley Creek has the potential for large alluvial REE deposits, and large,
lower-grade, Rossing-type, granite-hosted uranium deposits. The Kalabity project
lies in a district of historic uranium/radium mining that contains a variety of
known uranium deposit styles.
Pancon has a 45% participating interest in this significant uranium and REE
project portfolio. Pancon and Crossland are also pursuing exploration beyond
Australia through an international subsidiary company, Crosscontinental Uranium
Limited, and plans include formulating an exploration program in Burkina Faso.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rick Mark, President & CEO
Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements", which are subject
to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future
events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.
Investors are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and results. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business
are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure documents filed from time
to time with the Canadian securities authorities.
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