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U3O8 Corp.'s Test Work Simplifies Proposed Uranium-Vanadium Extraction from its Laguna Salada Deposit
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 22, 2019) - U3O8 Corp. ( TSX: UWE ) ( OTCQB: UWEF...
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[{"type":"text","content":"U3O8 Corp.'s Test Work Simplifies Proposed Uranium-Vanadium Extraction from its Laguna Salada DepositToronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 22, 2019) - U3O8 Corp. (TSX: UWE) (OTCQB: UWEFF) (\"U3O8 Corp.\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to report positive results of additional test work aimed at simplifying the process of extracting uranium and vanadium from a large sample of gravel from its wholly-owned Laguna Salada deposit in Argentina. After a thorough review of the preliminary economic assessment (\"PEA\") undertaken on the Laguna Salada Deposit, Mr. Marsh concluded that there is significant room for improvement and simplification of the flowsheet and processing plant design incorporated in the PEA. Mr. Marsh planned a test work program to evaluate the effectiveness of these concepts on a bulk sample of gravel from Laguna Salada. The test work was conducted to evaluate alternative ways of removing sulphate from the gravel proved positive. Mr. David Marsh, director of U3O8 Corp. was formerly General Manager - Technical Project Development at Paladin Energy, and was intimately involved in the design, construction and operation of two uranium production plants in Africa. David Marsh commented, \"Recent test work shows that our simplified process removes as much sulphate from the Laguna Salada gravel as the very much more complex process modelled in the PEA. These results suggest that the flowsheet for processing the Laguna Salada gravel can be significantly simplified, likely resulting in reductions in capital cost since expensive dewatering circuits would be eliminated or reduced in size\".Laguna Salada gravels contain a sulphate-bearing mineral called gypsum, that competes for the reagents that are used to extract the uranium and vanadium. The more efficiently the gypsum can be removed from the gravel, the lower the estimated cost of production of uranium and vanadium. Approximately 40% of the operating cost estimated in the PEA relates to removing sulphate from the gravel. Therefore, simplification of the process, or improved efficiency, of the removal of sulphate has a potentially large impact on estimated uranium and vanadium production costs. Results of Test WorkThe test work reported on here involved the following three steps:The sample on which the test work was conducted was dug from within a few metres of surface o...