- Mineral exploration company, AVZ Minerals (AVZ) has updated the market on its Phase 2 metallurgical test work program at its Manono Lithium and Tin Project
- First optimisation test results indicate 55.7 per cent lithium oxide recovery into a concentrate grading 6.3 per cent lithium oxide
- The definitive feasibility study is on target for completion in the first quarter of 2020, which will enable the advancement of the project into production
- AVZ is down 3.51 per cent on the ASX and is trading for 5.5¢ apiece
AVZ Minerals (AVZ) has updated the market on its Phase 2 metallurgical test work program at its Manono Lithium and Tin Project.
The Manono Project is located 500 kilometres north of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa.
The Dense Media Cyclone (DMC) test work within Phase 2 showed excellent lithia recovery results that support the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) flowsheet.
“The progress of Phase 2 metallurgical program is delivering exceptional results in terms of lithia recovery and supporting the selected DFS flowsheet,” Managing Director Nigel Ferguson said.
“In particular, and despite a significant disparity in fines losses associated with
the crushing method used, the first of the optimisation tests returned an excellent result of 55.7 per cent lithium oxide recovery to a concentrate grading of 6.3 per cent lithium oxide,” he added.
The company said this is an excellent result for the Manono Project because its Phase 2 optimisation work is essentially ensuring that its laboratory test work is scalable to a full-size operation.
AVZ will continue its DMS optimisation work and ongoing trials are expected to yield greater recovery improvements.
In addition to the DMS, the Phase 2 metallurgical program will continue to focus on heavy mineral recovery, froth flotation and perform all the necessary engineering and vendor testing.
The DFS is expected to be completed in the first quarter in 2020, which will enable the advancement of the project into production.
AVZ is down 3.51 per cent on the Australian Securities Exchange and is trading for 5.5¢ apiece at 2:33 pm AEDT.