Boron One Holdings Inc, a company dedicated to the decarbonization of Planet Earth through the responsible utilization of its boron assets, is pleased to report positive results from bench-scale metallurgical testing conducted on samples from its 100% owned Piskanja Boron Property located in Serbia (“Piskanja”).
The testing returned commercial grades of colemanite concentrate, ulexite concentrate, and boric acid, all which meet or exceed the specifications of products commercially available from other leading boron producers.
The testing produced salable quality of concentrates and derivatives from across all three of the distinct boron mineral zones found at Piskanja – colemanite, ulexite and mixed borate zones. This is important to ensure the utilization of all borate materials from within the Piskanja deposit, and thereby maximizing revenue potentials in any future production. The testing methods utilized industry standard, “off the shelf” equipment and protocols (grinding, attrition scrubbing, calcination, and/or acid leaching) to achieve the results. The testing was successful in defining optimal parameters (such as grind size, scrubbing time, calcination time and temperature, acid concentrations and leach times, etc.) to optimize recoveries and B2O3 content in finished products.
As a result of the positive bench-scale testing, the Company is now conducting semi-industrial bulk-scale metallurgical tests on all three of its boron types.
Highlights of metallurgical tests
Colemanite: A blended sample, representing each of the colemanite zones within Piskanja (with the test sample blended head grade of 36.8% B2O3, approximating that of the average colemanite grade found within Piskanja overall) underwent standard grinding and attrition scrubbing, and resulted in the production of a sales-grade colemanite concentrate with a 42.73% B2O3 content (at a 77.3% recovery rate). With the addition of a Mozley Table to the grinding and scrubbing protocol, the recovery rate improved to 87.2%, while the B2O3 content measured a commercially acceptable 40.15%.
Ulexite: A blended sample, representing each of the ulexite zones within Piskanja (with the test sample blended head grade of 40.2% B2O3, approximating that of the average ulexite grade found within Piskanja overall), underwent standard grinding and calcination, and resulted in the production of a sales-grade ulexite concentrate with a 58.22% B2O3 content (and a 72.06% mass recovery), along with a Na2O concentrate of 9.2%. Using altered parameters for grinding and calcination, mass recovery was increased to 76.56%, with an acceptable B2O3 grade of 54.0%, and a NaO2 concentrate of 8.49%.
Mixed borate (sodium/calcium/silica borate conglomerate): A blended sample, representing each of the mixed borate zones within Piskanja (with the test sample blended head grade of 28.0% B2O3, approximating that of the average mixed borate zone grade found within Piskanja overall) underwent standard grinding and acid leaching, and resulted in the production of a sales-grade boric acid, with a 56.16% B2O3 content.
“We are pleased to now have tangible met test results confirming that industry standard processes appear to be effective at recovering our boron minerals to marketable concentrates, as well as producing a technical grade boric acid” said Tim Daniels, CEO of Boron One Holdings. “This is another positive milestone for the Piskanja Property, with these results forming an integral part of our Serbian compliant feasibility study which is nearing completion” he added. “We certainly are not surprised by these test results, as they are in line with feedback which we have received previously from potential boron buyers who have sampled and tested our minerals in their facilities for their potential commercial use”.
Source: Junior Mining Network
