Highcliff Metals Corp. (IMAHF)

[Dobie Lama]

Halloysite, a naturally occurring aluminosilicate nanotube, has been undeservedly forgotten. Halloysite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4•2H2O) is a two-layered aluminosilicate, with a predominantly hollow tubular structure in the submicron range and chemically similar to kaolin1,2. The neighboring alumina and silica layers, and their waters of hydration, curve and form multilayer tubes (Figure 1) due to a packing disorder. Halloysite is an economically viable material that can be mined from the corresponding deposit as a raw mineral.2 As for most natural materials, the size of halloysite particles varies within 1-15 microns of length and 10-150 nm of inner diameter, depending on the deposits. In our research, we use halloysite G produced by Atlas Mining, Nanoclay Technology Division and available from Sigma-Aldrich (Aldrich Prod. No. 685445). This material has an average tube diameter of 50 nm and inner lumen diameter of 15 nm (Figure 1). Typical specific surface area of this halloysite is 65 m2/g; pore volume of ~ 1.25 mL/g; refractive index 1.54; and specific gravity 2.53 g/cm3.

Yes, IMAHF has one of the largest deposit of halloysite and it can be open pit mined.