- BBX Minerals (BBX) produces a small nugget of palladium using a chemical-free way to recover and process ore
- The company formally minted an agreement with US-based EcoBiome earlier this year
- The two players have worked together since 2022
- The company’s Tres Estados project in Brazil is where the ore came from
- Shares in BBX are up 8.11 per cent, trading at 4 cents at 11:23 am AEST
Brazil-based microcap gold explorer BBX Minerals (BBX) has confirmed another successful downstream test run, creating metallic solids using EcoBiome’s bioleaching tech.
While today’s announcement echoes one in the same vein it released last December, the company’s latest results come on the back of a formal agreement between both companies.
In May, the company formally inked a product supply and IP licence agreement with EcoBiome Metals, which is intending to create a whole new way to process downstream ore.
In short, the company uses microbial products to extract and recover metals downstream, cancelling out the need for chemicals.
Cyanide and acids are typically used in gold mining; EcoBiome is banking on a long-term shift towards ESG outcomes in hard rock mining. BBX reported Ecobiome’s processes to work particularly well on its ore from the Tres Estados project in South America’s largest economy.
EcoBiome has its facilities in Texas, where BBX sent more of its ore earlier this year for testwork. Today, with those results back in its pocket, BBX has confirmed it produced a nugget of high-value rare earth palladium from ore on-site.
“We are highly encouraged by the recovery results to date and will continue to evaluate and fine-tune several alternative methods to recover the precious metals from the bioleach solids,” BBX Minerals CEO Andrew J Douchane said.
“In addition to continuing to work on the process, we also intend to initiate bio-assaying of the Tres Estados’s resource in the fourth quarter with the goal of having a partial re-estimation of the current resource.”
Shares in BBX were up 8.11 per cent, trading at 4 cents at 11:23 am AEST.