- Ark Mines (AHK) has initiated metallurgical testwork at its Gunnawarra project in North Queensland after wrapping up an earlier drilling program
- Ark says it was encouraged by early beneficiation trials which showed nickel-cobalt ore material from the project can be upgraded
- The company engaged separation tech company Eriez to complete the next phase of testwork at its pilot plant in Victoria
- Eriez will conduct lab trials using pilot plant equipment to determine the optimum product grade
- Company shares were down 1.75 per cent, trading at 28 cents at 3:55pm AEDT
Ark Mines (AHK) has initiated metallurgical testing of nickel-cobalt ore from its Gunnawarra project in North Queensland.
The testwork comes after the company completed two phases of drilling, which encountered lateritic material.
“Ark will use material produced from recent drill programs to further understand the potential for increasing grade across the Gunnawarra deposit,” Executive Director Ben Emery said.
“This will potentially increase the volume of direct sale of ore grade material.”
So far, small-scale beneficiation trials has shown that material from the Gunnawarra project can be upgraded. The company said these positive results were the “catalyst” to initiate a pilot-scale commercial beneficiation program.
Ark Mines engaged Eriez, a global leader in process plant manufacture, to complete the next phase of testwork at its pilot plant in Victoria.
Eriez will conduct lab trials using pilot plant equipment to determine the optimum product grade so that the equipment can be scaled up for commercial production if required.
Ark Mines said it’s eager to update shareholders with both the results from the Eriez test program as well as the assays from phase two drilling.
Company shares were down 1.75 per cent, trading at 28 cents at 3:55 pm AEDT.