Celsius Resources Limited’s (ASX:CLA) Philippine subsidiary Makilala Mining Company, Inc. (MMCI) has received excellent results from the metallurgical testwork completed from the MCB Project, which is part of the work associated with the Scoping Study for MCB.
The initial test results achieved at MCB are a great outcome for the Scoping Study, and have provided further confidence in the quality of the MCB project.” said Celsius’ Chairman Martin Buckingham.
“It’s very pleasing to see the impressive metallurgical recoveries which will underpin the outcome of the Scoping Study as this further confirms the ability to develop the project into a world class asset.
“Meantime we offer prayers of hope and healing for our host community leaders and members as well as our in-country employees who have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Kalinga Province. We are doing our best to help those affected while keeping operations progressing.”
The MCB Copper-Gold Project (MCB) is located in the Cordillera Administrative Region in the Philippines, approximately 320km north of Manila It is the flagship project within the company’s portfolio, which also contains other key prospects in the Philippines.
A maiden JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate was declared for the MCB Project in January 2021, comprising 313.8 million tonnes @ 0.48% copper and 0.15 g/t gold, for 1.5 million tonnes of contained copper and 1.47 million ounces of gold, of which 290.3 million tonnes @ 0.48% copper and 0.15 g/t gold is classified as Indicated and 23.5 million tonnes @ 0.48% copper and 0.10 g/t gold is classified as Inferred.
A high-grade core of 93.7 million tonnes @ 0.80% copper and 0.28 g/t gold will be the focus for the company’s initial Scoping Study.
The high-grade core comprises 79.8 million tonnes @ 0.83% copper and 0.30 g/t gold in the Indicated category and 13.9 million tonnes @ 0.59% copper and 0.11 g/t gold in the Inferred category.
As part of the recent drilling programme, a number of core samples were taken for metallurgical testwork based on the geological assessment of the main defined copper mineralisation types at MCB.
The metallurgical testwork programme was designed to establish a preliminary flowsheet and to assess the ability to recover a marketable copper-gold concentrate from MCB.
Results have shown that copper recoveries of 96.7% and gold recoveries of 85.3% were achievable in a first stage rougher flotation step, which was optimised at a grind size of 150 micron.
Subsequent regrinding of the rougher concentrate to 38 micron followed by second stage cleaner flotation was found to achieve a concentrate product with an average grade of 26% copper and 6.5g/t gold.
The final weighted average copper and gold recoveries after the second stage cleaner flotation were estimated to be 94% for copper and 79% for gold.
The results have shown that a conventional copper flotation processing plant will be able to achieve high copper recoveries into a saleable copper concentrate with low impurities.
Work is now underway as part of the final steps in the Scoping Study to develop a process plant flowsheet with associated capital and operating cost estimates, based on the results of the flotation testwork.
Additional metallurgical testwork is anticipated to further improve both the copper recoveries and the average grade of the copper concentrate, by further optimising the grind size and reagents used in the flow sheet. These tests will be part of the next phase of studies for MCB.
The receipt of the metallurgical testwork results will enable the finalisation of the Scoping Study for the MCB Project.