Alexander Mining PLC Research and Development Update (8683K)

TIDMAXM

RNS Number : 8683K

Alexander Mining PLC

18 December 2018

18 December 2018

Alexander Mining plc

("Alexander" or the "Company")

Research and Development Activities Update

Alexander is pleased to provide this update on its research and development activities.

Lithium joint venture

The preliminary stages of the lithium heap leaching JV with Alexander's Principal Technological Consultant, Dr. Nicholas Welham, have shown promising results. Consequently, it has been agreed that a further larger scale batch of testwork is required in order to generate sufficient data to allow the process to be audited by Wardell Armstrong International.

The work will be undertaken at a higher education establishment in Perth, Western Australia under Dr. Welham's supervision, with all materials being analysed at a local laboratory. The final round of work, which is scheduled to start in early January, is expected to take around three months.

HyperLeach(R) - copper

HyperLeach(R) testwork on two low grade copper sulphide ore samples has shown highly promising potential for the application of HyperLeach(R) to heap leaching and in-situ leaching. The HyperLeach(TM) reagent has been found to rapidly oxidise chalcopyrite (the main copper sulphide mineral and source of the majority of the world's mined copper production) and bornite from low grade ore. Unlike many proposed reagents for heap leach or in situ leaching, the initial HyperLeach(R) solution does not appear to react significantly with the common gangue (waste) minerals. The selectivity to sulphides is anticipated to reduce the reagent consumption compared to other acid-based systems. The acid generated during HyperLeach(R) has been shown to react with the gangue raising the pH and leading to precipitation of unwanted elements, such as iron and aluminium, simplifying the separation and recovery of the copper.

The increasing use of renewable energy on mine sites is also a significant factor for HyperLeach(R) as the reagent can be generated electrochemically. As the unit cost of power decreases, the cost of using HyperLeach(R) will also decrease. Further testwork in the New Year is aimed at examining the economics of the process. Alexander has been in contact with the provider of the samples tested as a potential industrial partner which may wish to fund further development of the in-situ HyperLeach(R) process for copper ores.

HyperLeach(R) - nickel and cobalt

Work on the leaching of nickel and cobalt flotation tailings in order to produce high purity battery feedstocks has continued. Samples of fresh and historic tailings have been received and some preliminary work undertaken to assess their amenability to HyperLeach(R). Initial results show some parallels with the copper work, with rapid reactivity of the minerals within the tailings and an acid consuming gangue mineralogy which appears to preclude alternative hydrometallurgical processes.

Further work is scheduled to start early in the New Year to optimise further the process and understand the major factors involved in the leaching. After optimisation of the leach, a large-scale run will be undertaken to generate sufficient solution to allow the investigation of the separation of the nickel and cobalt prior to production of their sulphate salts. The demonstration of an economic route from low grade tailings bodes well for a heap leach process for ore too low in nickel/cobalt to warrant processing by crushing, grinding and flotation. Potential partners are being sought to move this work to larger scale.

Notes

HyperLeach(R) Process

MetaLeach's HyperLeach(R) process, although less advanced in its commercialisation progress than AmmLeach(R), has very significant potential for application. HyperLeach(R) is a hydrometallurgical process which has been developed by MetaLeach for the extraction of metals, especially copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum and rhenium from sulphide ore deposits and concentrates.

The process utilises chlorine-based chemistry to solubilise metals from ores under ambient temperature and pressure conditions. The HyperLeach(R) process can be operated as either heap leach or tank leach.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

 
 Martin Rosser 
  Chief Executive 
  Mobile: [phone] 
 Alexander Mining plc 
  Tel: [phone] 
  Email: [e-mail] 
  Website: www.alexandermining.com 
 
 Northland Capital Partners Limited 
  Matthew Johnson / Dugald J Carlean 
  (Corporate Finance) 
  Abigail Wayne (Corporate Broking) 
  Tel: [phone] 
  Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Ltd. 
  Andy Thacker 
  Tel: [phone] 
 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [e-mail] or visit www.rns.com.

END

RESFKFDBQBDDFBD

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2018 09:34 ET (14:34 GMT)