Elevate Uranium Ltd. (ASX:EL8) an ASX listed uranium exploration Company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of bulk sample collection for its ongoing metallurgical testwork at the Koppies Uranium Project in Namibia.
The Company has successfully excavated eight test pits, demonstrating significant areas of exposed carnotite, a primary uranium mineral. This marks a crucial step in the U-pgrade™ metallurgical testwork program, designed to optimize the extraction process of uranium from shallow deposits.
Elevate Uranium’s Managing Director, Murray Hill, commented:
“The Company has now completed excavation of eight test pits at the Koppies Uranium Project. Excavation of test pits is the first stage of planned metallurgical testwork programs using our proprietary U-pgradeTM beneficiation process. The shallow depth of the Koppies resource lends itself to collection of samples from test pits, and bulk samples are by far the most representative samples to present to a beneficiation testwork program. Samples have been collected for mineralogy and geological analyses, which will then feed into the bench scale U-pgradeTM beneficiation testwork program.
Visual observations of the mineralisation in the test pits are highly encouraging, showing large areas of the exposed yellow uranium mineral, carnotite, which the Company expects will be effectively beneficiated using U-pgradeTM.
The focus of the U-pgradeTM beneficiation testwork program on samples from the Koppies Uranium Project will be to confirm the anticipated results at bench scale level before preparing for a future U-pgradeTM beneficiation pilot plant.”
he test pits, dug to a depth of up to six meters, have provided representative samples necessary for the U-pgrade™ beneficiation process. This process is expected to be initially validated at the bench scale level, with preparations underway for a future pilot plant based on the test results.
In addition to the uranium extraction, the pits will remain open for future collection of bulk samples, contributing to comprehensive studies including hardness and abrasion testing, mineralogical studies, and confirmation of ore bulk density across different rock lithologies.
The strategic location of the test pits ensures they adequately represent the mineralisation at Koppies, with the primary objectives of examining the proximity of mineralisation to the surface, the range of uranium and gangue mineral grades, and the distribution across the project areas.
The completion of this phase of the U-pgrade™ metallurgical testwork program is scheduled for later this year, with the results set to play a pivotal role in designing the project’s pilot plant.
Contact details:
Jane Morgan