AMN - TANZANIA: Simplified leach recovery flowsheet for Ngualla

Peak Resources has completed the technical development programs that have resulted in a simplified leach recovery flowsheet for its Ngualla project. The new flowsheet has been successfully trialled on the high grade concentrate produced by the beneficiation pilot plant and is a significant improvement over the flowsheet developed during the Prefeasibility Study.

Peak has completed extensive test work on the high grade mineral concentrate and a new flowsheet has been developed that achieves the following outcomes:

• Reduced plant capital cost through a smaller plant of modular design

• Lower operating costs due to reduced reagent consumption

• Focus on the extraction and recovery of the high value magnetic metals praseodymium and neodymium

• Significant reduction in the extraction of low value cerium, further reducing reagent costs in the leach recovery circuit and also the size of the downstream separation plant

• Minimises the extraction of deleterious elements thereby simplifying the purification process.

This process has been developed in house by Peak’s metallurgical team and optimised at Nagrom in Western Australia and ANSTO Minerals in NSW. ANSTO has been selected for piloting the new flowsheet and construction of the pilot plant is nearing completion.

Peak managing director Darren Townsend says: “The development and implementation of the improved leach recovery flowsheet builds on the strengths of the beneficiation process recently piloted by Peak. We look forward to updating the market on the operating cost and capital costs of the Ngualla project in the first half of 2016.”

www.peakresources.com.au

News courtesy of International Mining