Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX: GAL) has obtained positive initial metallurgical test work results from the Callisto palladium-nickel- copper-platinum-gold-rhodium discovery within the company’s 100% owned Norseman project in Western Australia.
The initial metallurgical test work from Callisto shows that the disseminated sulphide mineralisation responds very well to sulphide flotation at industry standard conditions,” Managing Director, Brad Underwood, said.
“These results are highly encouraging as we have a very consistent style of disseminated sulphides at Callisto and we anticipate that the metal recoveries will be similar from other sections of the mineralisation. Variability test work using additional drill holes will be a part of an ongoing metallurgical program along with the optimisation of flotation conditions seeking to further increase metal recovery.
“In the meantime, drilling continues at Callisto with a diamond rig and RC rig on site. Our aim is to define the mineralisation at Callisto both for resource estimation and to use the data generated to effectively explore this newly discovered palladium-nickel province.”
Galileo’s Technical Director and metallurgist, Noel O’Brien, said the initial metallurgical test work results have been excellent and will form the basis for more advanced testing to understand how best to extract the metals from the Callisto mineralisation.
“My experience in South Africa provides Galileo with an extensive network of contacts within the palladium-platinum industry and we are able to draw from a wealth of expertise that is not readily available in Australia.
“ South African palladium-platinum mines commonly produce a single bulk concentrate that maximises PGE recovery and we will be looking at this potential option with the upcoming work at Callisto.”
Future Work
In order to assess whether a single bulk concentrate can be produced from the Callisto mineralisation, a sequence of further work is being undertaken including cleaner flotation and magnetic test work.
It was noted that physical properties were measured using NQ half-core which is only indicative for UCS as it requires sub-coring to get a sample. Future measurements will need to be undertaken on full PQ core.