[miningmx.com] — JUBILEE Platinum has reported “exceptional results’ from flotation recovery testwork on a sample of UG2 reef from its Tjate Platinum project.
Jubilee also reported that its new 5MW AC furnace at Middelburg using the revolutionary ConRoast smelting technology had reached operational temperatures and was building up towards full production of 2,400t/month of ferroalloy feedstock and/or concentrate.
Jubilee is carrying out a pre-feasibility study into Tjate which is situated on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex. The property covers 5,140ha on three farms and is located down-dip of Anglo American Platinum’s Twickenham mine and Impala Platinum’s Marula mine.
According to Jubilee an independent study has judged Tjate to contain a potential 65 million ounces of platinum group metals (pgm) but that estimate is derived from the extrapolation of current drilling results.
The estimate is three times greater than the current indicated and inferred SAMREC compliant resource estimate as of May 2009.
The Merensky and UG2 reefs on Tjate targeted for initial mining lie at between 600m and 1,000m below surface but extend to depths greater than 1,600m.
According to Jubilee CEO Leon Coetzer, the latest results have given recoveries of 90% to 91.5% of four element pgm (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) from flotation testwork.
These results were achieved through producing a concentrate which contained high chrome which can only be effectively processed through the ConRoast smelter technology to which Jubilee holds exclusive development and commercialization rights until 2020.
Coetzer said “the result were achieved by not constraining the recovery of pgm in order to limit the recovery of chrome in the concentrate.
“The company believes that as much as 4% higher pgm recovery to concentrate is possible – and would be achievable in commercial practice – from the UG2 ore by producing platinum concentrates containing high chrome for further smelting in the ConRoast process.”
According to Jubilee the ConRoast process made the financial evaluation of the Tjate project different from other platinum projects and was estimated to enhance Tjate’s value by $500m over 20 years.
