Enpar's ExtrEL recovers up to 77% Ni from mine tailings
2006-05-25 09:59 ET - News Release
Dr. Gene Shelp reports
EXTREL REPRESENTS ECONOMIC SOLUTION FOR NICKEL RECOVERY FROM MINE TAILINGS
Enpar Technologies Inc.'s additional testing of its ExtrEL leaching technology conducted on nickel mine tailings during the past four months has confirmed its earlier findings. The testing resulted in nickel recovery ranging from 58 per cent to 77 per cent. The company is extremely excited that it can now duplicate the results on demand.
Enpar initially reported in December that leaching of up to 77 per cent of the nickel contained in samples of nickel mine tailings grading up to 1.2 per cent Ni was obtained while employing its ExtrEL technology.
Optimization of the ExtrEL leaching process is scheduled to begin in June, 2006, with completion expected three months later. These results will form the basis for design of a pilot unit for relatively large-scale testing.
Based on testing results to date, the predominant operating cost is power, which at 38 cents per kilogram of nickel metal recovered is considered to be quite low.
The company plans to proceed through pilot testing to a commercial plant within the next 18 months. Preliminary cost modelling suggests that the capital cost of the equipment would be recovered within one to 1.5 years. However, the company cautions that additional testing is required before firm conclusions can be made about the potential commercialization of this process.
The ability to recover nickel from what is currently perceived as a waste material represents an enormous financial opportunity for Enpar, its shareholders and the mining industry.
In addition, the ExtrEL leaching technology may become a primary hydrometallurgical treatment method for the traditional concentrate from the mill floatation circuit.
Once proven on a commercial scale, the ExtrEL leaching technology could potentially be used as an alternative to conventional smelting facilities which require considerable capital and represent major environmental concerns.
This would enable both large and small mining companies to process the ore concentrate on-site and ship metal for refining, instead of shipping ore for primary processing.
Opportunities for Enpar
According to published information, the company estimates that there are hundreds of millions of tonnes of mill sulphide tailings containing potentially economic grades of nickel in Australia, Canada, Russia and several African nations.
For example, at the Leinster, Kambalda and Mt. Keith mines in Western Australia, there is reportedly a resource totalling 162.7 million tonnes of tailings, containing approximately 500,000 tonnes of nickel metal. These sulphide tailings are apparently similar in mineralogy to those tested by Enpar, making them ideal for treatment using the ExtrEL leaching technology.
Given today's nickel price of $20.81 (U.S.) per kilogram, the in situ value of the nickel sulphide tailings at these sites is estimated at greater than $11-billion (U.S.). Furthermore, it is estimated that an additional 522,000 tonnes of nickel will be discarded as nickel sulphide tailings throughout the remaining life at the referenced sites.
Using Enpar's ExtrEL leaching technology, the recoverable nickel from the tailings at the aforementioned sites could potentially reach 401,400 tonnes of nickel metal with a market value of approximately $8.4-billion (U.S.).
