Centaurus Metals (ASX: CTM) has successfully produced the first-ever nickel sulphate from its flagship Jaguar Nickel Project in Brazil as part of the final phase of work undertaken as part of the Jaguar Pilot Plant testwork programme.
The successful production of nickel sulphate, cobalt hydroxide and zinc hydroxide concludes the pilot programme with only analytical assay work on the products and thickening and filtration vendor testing on the cobalt and zinc hydroxide products to be completed over the next month.
Centaurus’ piloting programme for the Jaguar Project has been developed to provide detailed chemistry and process engineering data for the DFS and future front-end engineering design (FEED) requirements, as well as to ensure a high-quality nickel product is achieved for marketing and strategic off-take discussions.
Managing Director, Darren Gordon, said the completion of the Pilot Plant Testwork Programme marked another pivotal step in the development of the Jaguar Project as a major new green nickel sulphide project capable of delivering battery-grade products to the fast-growing electric vehicle market.
“The nickel industry is experiencing transformational demand for nickel sulphate as a critical product that is essential in the new generation of high-performance lithium-ion batteries required for EV’s and other renewable energy applications.
“The successful delivery of a high-quality nickel sulphate product is a huge milestone for the company and the Jaguar Project, and I would like to thank the technical team for their hard work in achieving this fantastic result.
“This shows that Jaguar is ready to produce a product that is perfectly tailored for the new wave of nickel demand over the coming decade and beyond. The high-quality data from this program also feeds into the ongoing DFS and will allow us to complete the critical process flowsheet design work required to finalize the refinery plant design.”
The scope of the refinery piloting was split into four phases of work as follows:
• Phase 1: Concentrate feed preparation, pressure leaching, and copper solvent extraction.
• Phase 2: Calcium and zinc removal via solvent extraction.
• Phase 3: Cobalt and nickel solvent extraction circuits.
• Phase 4: Nickel sulphate crystallization plus zinc and cobalt hydroxide precipitate production.
Phase 1 and Phase 2 were completed previously, with results reported on 15 March 2023.
Phase 3 Results
Phase 3 was designed to extract cobalt (for a by-product revenue stream), with minimal nickel loss, followed by the purification of the nickel solution to allow Phase 4 to be undertaken, being the production of nickel sulphate and the production of zinc hydroxide and cobalt hydroxide by-products.
From the Phase 3 solvent extraction work, two product streams were produced:
1. A high-purity nickel strip solution for nickel sulphate production; and
2. A cobalt strip solution to produce a cobalt hydroxide by-product.
These are in addition to the zinc strip solution, for a zinc hydroxide by-product, produced in Phase 2. These three solutions were submitted to Strategic Metallurgy Pty Ltd in Perth to facilitate the Phase 4 work programme.
The Phase 3 piloting of cobalt solvent extraction has been completed using a C272 extractant and a solvent extraction circuit that was successful in extracting over 99% of the cobalt while only losing less than 0.7% of the nickel.
The Phase 3 test work shows that a high-purity cobalt hydroxide by-product can be generated which will provide another revenue stream not considered in prior economic assessments of the project.
Phase 4
As noted above, Phase 4 (the final stage of the pilot work program) involved the production nickel sulphate as well as the production of zinc hydroxide and cobalt hydroxide as by-products of the Project.
The company has now successfully produced nickel sulphate as shown in Table 3, with the product awaiting final assay.
The pilot work targeted a sulphate specification in the range outlined in Table 3 below, as this range specification aligns with the indicative requirements for a premium battery-grade nickel sulphate product from potential offtakers.
The final assays, due in approximately four weeks’ time, are expected to confirm the Jaguar nickel sulphate product specification sits comfortably within the target range.
Approximately 96% of the nickel contained in the nickel concentrate feed to the pilot plant (based on daily pilot data) was recovered to nickel sulphate, meaning an overall recovery of nickel from ore to sulphate of 75% (at the average head grade of the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 0.87% Ni).
In addition to the nickel sulphate production, the company has been able to successfully produce zinc hydroxide and cobalt hydroxide by-products, the final specification of which will also be delivered in the next four weeks. The by-products will be an additional source of revenue in the DFS economics which were not considered in prior economic assessments of the Project.
For further information please visit: https://www.centaurus.com.au/
