Global Energy Metals Reports Very High Recovery Rates for Cobalt, Copper and Gold from The Millennium Project in Queensland, Australia
Vancouver, April 6, 2020 - Global Energy Metals Corp. (TSXV:GEMC) | (OTC:GBLEF) | (FSE:5GE1) ("Global Energy Metals", the "Company" and/or "GEMC") is pleased to announce that exceptional cobalt, copper and gold recovery results have been received from its Millennium Project metallurgical testwork cooperative initiative completed by Cobalt Blue Holdings (ASX:COB) using its processing technology. Highlights of the Testwork
- High grade separate copper and cobalt concentrate can be readily floated from samples from the Millennium deposit.
- Excellent float recoveries of 93% cobalt (Co), 93% copper (Cu), and 80% gold (Au) into concentrates.
- Cobalt Blue Process successfully treated the cobalt concentrate for extraction of 90% Co, 95% Cu with 90% of the Au extracted in two steps:
- 10% in Cobalt Blue Process followed by 80% in cyanide leach of the Cobalt Blue Process residue.
- Cobalt Blue recommends that a Preliminary Economic Assessment be completed, to evaluate the total project costs and determine if the project should be advanced to a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS").
Mitchell Smith, President & CEO commented on the findings:
"The metallurgical results presented here continue to demonstrate the significant value of our wholly-owned Millennium project. We are especially pleased with the performance of Cobalt Blue who have established that we can produce a clean, saleable copper-gold flotation concentrate and a separate cobalt concentrate which can be successfully treated using the Cobalt Blue Process for recovering cobalt, copper and gold."
"These test results are an important next step in accomplishing Global Energy's strategy to secure the supply of minerals critical to national security and economic growth. We look forward to incorporating these results into future studies to quantify the added value to the project."
Millennium Project - Testwork Update
Global Energy Metals is pleased to announce a progress report on metallurgical testwork for its Millennium Project located in Queensland, Australia.
Cobalt Blue has been developing minerals processing technology for extraction and recovery of cobalt and elemental sulphur from cobalt-pyrite feedstocks to recover payable metals, elemental sulphur, and generate environmentally stable iron oxide leach residues. The process specifically avoids the simultaneous production of sulphuric acid, a further environmental benefit, which normally occurs when roasting pyrite, or leaching pyrite via pressure oxidation.
The Cobalt Blue Processing technology was evaluated in a 2018 PFS for Cobalt Blue's Broken Hill Cobalt Project and was successfully shown to be technically and economically viable for that project. This work culminated in the release of the maiden Ore Reserve Statement that accompanied this PFS.
Additionally, Cobalt Blue has successfully evaluated application of the technology to cobalt-pyrite feedstocks from Havilah's Mutooroo deposit.
The Millennium Project is strategically located approximately 20 km from the Cudeco Rocklands mine site and refinery and within the economic and infrastructure hub of Mount Isa.
Figure 1. Location of the Millennium Project and its proximity to refining capacity
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As part of the study, GEMC provided approximately 70kg of mineralised sample to Cobalt Blue for a two-stage study:
Stage 1: Production of separate copper and cobalt concentrates.
Stage 2: Treatment of cobalt concentrate using the Cobalt Blue Process.
Stage One was successful in developing a flotation scheme to produce two separate copper and cobalt concentrates. The total flotation recovery of metals to concentrates achieved was 93% copper, 93% cobalt and 80% gold.
The concentrate grades and recoveries are shown below:
| Co | Cu | As | Fe | S | Si | Au | ||
| Copper Concentrate | Grade | 0.5% | 30.9% | 0.15% | 27.7% | 32.7% | 1.7% | 9.5g/t |
| Recovery | 5% | 87% | 2% | 18% | 33% | <0.5% | 56% | |
| Cobalt Concentrate | Grade | 2.9% | 0.9% | 2.9% | 19.0% | 21.9% | 15.8% | 1.6g/t |
| Recovery | 88% | 7% | 94% | 36% | 63% | 1% | 26% | |
The cobalt concentrate was then treated using the Cobalt Blue Process in Stage Two:
Step 1: Thermal decomposition of the pyrite, where all the pyrite (FeS2) was converted to pyrrhotite (Fe7S8).
Step 2: Leaching the resulting calcine (pyrrhotite) to extract cobalt and copper.
The process successfully treated the cobalt concentrate, with leach extractions of 90% of the cobalt and 95% of the copper. Interestingly, 10% of the gold was also leached into solution, on account of the formation of gold-chloride complexes. The leach residue was filtered and washed, and then subjected to a further cyanide leach to recover free gold. The total gold extracted from the cobalt concentrate was 90% (10% in the chloride leach, and a further 80% in the cyanide leach).
| Co | Cu | Au | |
| COB Process Leach Extraction | 90% | 95% | 10% |
| Cyanide Leaching of Leach residue | 80%* | ||
| Total Gold leached from Co concentrate | 90% |
* extraction of Au relative to head Co concentrate.
The detailed results from the test program are now being further evaluated as Global Energy assesses next steps in developing the Millennium project as a future source of cobalt at a time when the world recognizes the importance of transitioning to a clean-energy economy using battery technology.
Potential Application to GEMC's Neighbouring Cobalt Deposits in Queensland
The Queensland Government Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy recently announced new initiatives to explore for 'new economy minerals' including cobalt.
In alignment with these new initiatives, results from the Millennium test work indicate that the Cobalt Blue Process could be successfully adapted to treat cobalt-copper-gold sulphides prevalent in the resource rich Mount Isa and Cloncurry district which could be beneficial to Global Energy Metals as it holds a significant land position with the highly prospective Mount Dorothy and Cobalt Ridge projects.
Critical Minerals and Queensland as a Diversified Source of Cobalt
Strong interest has been expressed by the Australian federal and state Governments to support development of Critical Mineral assets across Australia. Cobalt is a critical mineral of particular interest, as flagged in Australia's Critical Minerals Strategy 2019, and recognized as vulnerable to supply disruption by many of Australia's strategic partners whom it is working with to strengthen global supply chains. This reinforced enthusiasm has resulted in the recent signing of the Australia-United States MOU on a critical minerals collaboration in an effort to reduce both nation's susceptibility to critical mineral supply disruptions. It highlights that Australia and the United States share a mutual interest in improving critical mineral security and ensuring the future competitiveness of Australian and U.S. minerals industries. This international cooperation is anticipated to result in greater support for the development of critical mineral projects, such as Millennium, and the establishment of a strong diversified mine-to-market supply chain to serve the eMobility, aerospace, defense and lithium-ion battery industries.
Qualified Person
Mr. Paul Sarjeant, P. Geo., is the qualified person for this release as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has reviewed and verified the technical information contained herein.
(TSXV:GEMC | OTCQB:GBLEF | FSE:5GE1)
Global Energy Metals provides investors and partners with exposure to the immediate need for metals critical to the new energy economy by building a diversified global portfolio of cobalt and battery metals rich projects in top-tier mining jurisdictions with exploration & development upside to become a supply chain solution to safe and reliable cobalt for downstream partners. Global Energy Metals holds 100% of the Millennium Cobalt Project and two neighbouring discovery stage exploration-stage cobalt assets in Mt. Isa, Australia. It also currently owns 70% of the Werner Lake Cobalt Mine in Ontario, Canada and has entered into an agreement to acquire an 85% interest in two cobalt-nickel-copper exploration projects in Nevada, 150km East of the Tesla Gigafactory.
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Certain information in this release may constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks associated with regulatory approvals and timelines. Although Global Energy Metals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. For more information on Global Energy and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review the filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
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