Lithium miner MetalsTech (ASX/MTC) said it is close to lithium monetisation as it eyes gold find - Getty Images
Mining
Lithium miner MetalsTech (ASX:MTC) said that it’s in the process of assessing the monetisation of its high grade lithium mines in Quebec as the company moves toward generating its first revenue.
The revenue would provide the necessary funding to develop its Sturec gold mine in Slovakia.
MetalsTech said it’s particularly focusing on its Cancet lithium project in Quebec, a mine which boasts high-grade, near-surface spodumene mineralisation identified with potential significant tantalum credits.
Lithium is extracted from spodumene concentrates after acid roasting operations. There has been recent spodumene supply shortage, which is expected to exponentially increase over the next few years as demand for electric vehicles increases.
The Cancet Project’s independent JORC Exploration was targeted at 15-25Mt @ 1-2% Li2O + 100-250ppm Ta2O5. A feasibility study in 2017 has identified shallow high grade mineralisation.
Metallurgical testing has also demonstrated that battery grade spodumene concentrate could be produced from 10mm crush indicating simple low cost DMS gravity separation. The mineralisation occurs at or near surface and extends the high-grade deposit down-dip and east along strike.
The company is currently focusing on the first commercialisation from this project.
In February, MetalsTech announced it has identified visible gold in the UGA-12 hole at its Sturec gold mine in Slovakia.
The mine has a JORC 2012 resource of 21.2 million tonnes at 1.5g/t gold and 11.6g/t silver.
Visible gold was identified from 95.1 metres to 95.2 metres, measures less than 0.5 millimetres in size, and is present as dispersed blebs within a fine-grained chalcedonic quartz vein.
Visible gold was also identified in hole UGA-07 at 68.8 metres, which measures less than 0.5 millimetres and has dispersed blebs within a three to four-centimetre fine-grained chalcedonic quartz vein.
The company is waiting on results from other holes, which it will announce within this quarter.
The company’s share price has risen by 270 per cent over the past year. It jumped by more than 60 per cent on today’s announcement to 20c.
The company has yet to generate revenues thus far, and commands a market cap of $27 million.
Mining
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