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Excellent Results from Large Scale Metallurgical Test Work
Tawana Resources NL
(Incorporated in Australia)
(Registration number ACN 085 166 721)
Share code on the JSE Limited: TAW
JSE ISIN: AU0000TAWDA9
Share code on the Australian Securities Exchange Limited: TAW
ASX ISIN: AU000000TAW7
(“the Company” or “Tawana”)
Excellent Results from Large Scale Metallurgical Test Work
All graphics have been removed for SENS purposes. Please refer to Tawana’s website
Tawana Resources NL (“Tawana” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that larger scale
metallurgical test work has delivered exceptional results which will allow for a simple, low-capital,
low-risk startup operation and a short construction period for the planned commissioning at the
Bald Hill Lithium and Tantalum Mine in October 2017.
Refer to the attached Joint Announcement in relation to metallurgical results at the Bald Hill Mine.
Highlights
• Larger scale metallurgical test work completed.
• Two key findings of Bald Hill mineralisation are:
• The ability to produce grades well in excess of 6% Li2O at good mass yields and acceptably
low iron content.
• The ability to reject 60-70% of the feed mass after a first pass Dense Media Separation
(“DMS”), thus reducing processing costs appreciably.
• After removal of -1mm fines and mica, 78% of feed to the plant, containing 83% of the lithium, is
available for low-cost gravity DMS processing.
• Recovery to immediately marketable concentrates from the DMS is 76.4% with an additional
21.8% reporting to secondary concentrates for future processing. This equates to about 129,000tpa
of high grade coarse concentrate grading +6.4% Li2O at 1mtpa of feed.
• In addition, a total of 285,000t of fines and secondary concentrates, per million tonnes of feed,
would be stockpiled for stage 2 processing or initially treated through the tantalum circuit.
• The benefits of the selected process route, for the stage one DMS circuit, are:
- Low capital cost
- Short time to commissioning, low risk
- Very low processing cost
- Production of a coarse high grade premium concentrate
• A circuit to treat the fines and secondary concentrates will be constructed after production
commences and will be funded out of cash flow. This is expected to add ~45,000t of concentrate at
limited incremental cost.
• The plan is to operate the existing tantalum plant concurrently with the DMS spodumene circuit
adding significant by-product credits. This plant would be fed from fines from the DMS circuit and
additional high grade tantalum mineralisation mined whilst mining lithium mineralisation.
• The DMS Feasibility study is well advanced with plant and infrastructure costings for the DMS
circuit expected at the end of March.
• A 5 tonne sample is currently being processed to provide concentrate parcels for potential off-take
partners.
• A number of off-take partners have visited the Project in the past few weeks and the company is
currently advancing negotiations for offtake.
About Tawana (ASX & JSE: TAW) Tawana Resources NL is focused on becoming a spodumene
producer in 2017 with its highquality lithium projects in Western Australia and Namibia. Tawana’s
principal projects are the Bald Hill Lithium and Tantalum Mine (earning a 50% interest) and the
adjacent Cowan Lithium Project. The projects have numerous high quality spodumene-rich
pegmatites, some of which have been historically mined and processed for tantalum at the existing
Bald Hill processing facility. The Company also owns rights to the giant Uis pegmatite tailings
stockpile in Namibia, estimated to be 20 million tonnes. Drilling has been completed and
metallurgical test has commenced. If the testwork returns acceptable recoverable grades, there is
potential for a low capex/opex operation. The Company also owns the Mofe Creek Iron Ore Project
in coastal Liberia. The deposits are characterised by exceptionally coarse grained, high-grade free-
dig, itabirite that have the potential to deliver a premium, low cost product. The Company is
completing a Mineral Development Agreement (“MDA”) with the Government of Liberia and is
considering initially collaborating with owners of the under-utilized port of Monrovia or others with
a desire to develop a low capital cost DSO operation.
Study/Implementation progress
The processing content of the feasibility study was awarded to Primero Group, who are experienced
lithium processing plant engineers and constructors. Primero have now finalised the plant flow sheet
and developed a detailed 3-D model of the plant and site infrastructure. Plant and infrastructure
costing is well advanced and will be available by the end of March.
Progress on 5-tonne sample
The companies have been approached by several potential off-take partners, all of whom have
requested 40-80 kg parcels of typical concentrate to be produced at Bald Hill. It was decided to
produce approximately 600-800kg of concentrate to satisfy these requirements, which in turn,
required 4-5 tonnes of pegmatite to be processed. This material was obtained from existing pits.
This sample was crushed to 20mm and delivered to Nagrom Laboratory at the end of February. The
sample will be further crushed to 10mm and processed according to the proposed plant flow sheet,
and is expected to be completed before the end of March. The sample has a head grade of 2.14%
Li2O.
Details on Metallurgical Results Following on from the excellent results obtained from the variability
test work (refer ASX announcement on 13 February and SGX announcement on 12 February 2017),
larger scale tests were done on a 160kg composite of core used in the variability tests.
The sample was crushed to 10mm and screened at 1mm. The -1mm fines have been retained for
later testing. The +1mm fraction was further screened at 5.6 mm to assist the DMS gravity
processing. The -5.6+1mm fraction was processed in a reflux classifier to remove mica, and then
both -10+5.6mm and -5.6+1mm fractions were processed in a 100mm DMS cyclone.
The results of this phase of the test work were:
Table 1 | Feed Composition
Feed Mass Yield % Cont. Li
-1mm screened out after 10mm crushing 17 14.7%
Mica/gangue minerals removed in reflux classifier 8 1.5%
Composite treated through DMS 78 83.8%
Head grade of composite 1.41% Li2O
These results demonstrated that the amount of fines produced was limited to 17% by coarse
crushing at 10mm and that over 80% of the contained lithium was available for processing via the
cheaper gravity DMS route.
The results obtained from DMS processing were:
Table 2a | Coarse fraction (-10+5.6mm) at SG 2.8 (55% of DMS feed)
Fraction % Mass Yield % Li2O % Cont. Li % Fe2O3
SG 2.8 Sinks 17 6.30 78.9 0.76
SG 2.8 Floats 12 2.56 13.3 0.56
SG 2.7 Floats 71 0.16 7.8 0.29
Table 2b | Finer fraction (-5.6+1mm) at SG 2.9(mica removed) (45% of DMS feed)
Fraction % Mass Yield % Li2O % Cont. Li % Fe2O3
SG 2.9 Sinks 16 6.55 73.4 0.90
SG 2.9 Floats 21 1.53 21.8 0.57
SG 2.7 Floats 63 0.11 4.9 0.33
These results highlighted two key characteristics of the Bald Hill mineralisation:
• The ability to produce grades well in excess of 6% Li2O at good mass yields with acceptably
low iron content.
• The ability to reject 60-70% of the feed mass after a first pass DMS, thus reducing
processing costs appreciably.
The product grade obtained in the coarser fraction using a density of 2.9 was over 7% Li2O and,
whereas this is an excellent result, it is generally way above market requirements. Hence a lower
medium density of 2.8 was adopted to increase the mass yield. This resulted in a mass yield of 17%
at a grade of 6.3% Li2O at SG 2.8.
The middlings fraction, or 2.8 floats, still had a grade of 2.56% Li2O and a further test was done by
re-crushing this to 3.35 mm to determine additional DMS recovery. This test resulted in a further
mass yield of 4% at a grade of 6.14% Li2O to the sinks.
Table 2c | Weighted recovery through DMS
Fraction % Mass Yield % Li2O % Cont. Li % Fe2O3
Primary 16.5 6.43 76.4 0.82
Concentrate
Secondary 16.1 1.95 17.1 0.56
Concentrate
(middlings)
Waste 67.4 0.14 6.5 0.31
Table 2d| Weighted Recovery of Total Plant Feed
Fraction % Mass Yield % Li2O % Cont. Li
Primary Concentrate 12.9 6.43 63.4%
Stockpile for stage two processing(1) 28.5 1.40 28.2%
Waste 58.2 0.20 8.2%
Notes
1) Comprises 44% Secondary Concentrates and 56% Fines after de-sliming
2) Waste product containing high Ta2O5 will be stockpiled for future recovery
The test work has demonstrated that, after allowing for the removal of -1mm fines and mica, 78% of
the ore fed to the plant, containing 83% of the lithium, is available for gravity DMS processing.
The overall mass yield from gravity processing of the +1mm fraction was 16% of the total feed at a
concentrate grade of 6.4% Li2O.
Additional significant lithium and tantalum value is contained in the Fines and Secondary
Concentrates representing 28.5% of plant feed. Further design engineering will be undertaken on a
circuit to treat this ore after final design for the Stage One DMS has been completed.
Competent Persons Statement The information in this news release that relates to Exploration
Results is based on and fairly represents information and supporting documentation compiled by Mr
Mark Calderwood, an employee of the Company. Mr Calderwood is a member of The Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Calderwood has sufficient experience relevant to the style of
mineralisation under consideration and to the activity which they are undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”, the standard used for this report. Mr
Calderwood consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on his information in the
form and context in which it appears. Mr Calderwood meets the requirements to act as a Qualified
Person (as defined in the SGX Catalist rules).
Metallurgy The information in this release that relates to metallurgy and metallurgical test work has
been reviewed by Mr Noel O’Brien, FAusIMM, MBA, B. Met Eng. Mr O’Brien is not an employee of
Tawana, but is employed as a contract consultant. Mr O’Brien is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy, and he has sufficient experience with the style of processing response and
type of deposit under consideration, and to the activities undertaken, to qualify as a competent
person as defined in the 2012 edition of the “Australian Code for the Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves” (The JORC Code). Mr O’Brien consents to the inclusion
in this report of the contained technical information in the form and context as it appears. Mr
O’Brien meets the requirements to act as a Qualified Person (as defined in the SGX Catalist rules).
Forward Looking Statement This report may contain certain forward looking statements and
projections regarding estimated, resources and reserves; planned production and operating costs
profiles; planned capital requirements; and planned strategies and corporate objectives. Such
forward looking statements/projections are estimates for discussion purposes only and should not
be relied upon as representation or warranty, express or implied, of TAW and/or Alliance Mineral
Assets Limited. They are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors many of which are beyond the control of Tawana Resources NL
and/or Alliance Mineral Assets Limited. The forward looking statements/projections are inherently
uncertain and may therefore differ materially from results ultimately achieved.
Tawana Resources NL and/or Alliance Mineral Assets Limited does not make any representations
and provides no warranties concerning the accuracy of the projections, and disclaims any obligation
to update or revise any forward looking statements/projects based on new information, future
events or otherwise except to the extent required by applicable laws. While the information
contained in this report has been prepared in good faith, neither TAW and/or Alliance Mineral
Assets Limited or any of their directors, officers, agents, employees or advisors give any
representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the fairness, accuracy, completeness or
correctness of the information, opinions and conclusions contained in this presentation. Accordingly,
to the maximum extent permitted by law, none of TAW and/or Alliance Mineral Assets Limited, their
directors, employees or agents, advisers, nor any other person accepts any liability whether direct or
indirect, express or limited, contractual, tortuous, statutory or otherwise, in respect of, the accuracy
or completeness of the information or for any of the opinions contained in this announcement or for
any errors, omissions or misstatements or for any loss, howsoever arising, from the use of this
announcement.
16 March 2017
Sponsor
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance (Pty) Ltd
Date: 16/03/2017 08:50:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE').
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