Slide 1: Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present
Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present For personal use only • Mackowski, S. (Hastings Rare Metals Ltd, Level 9, 50 Margaret Street, Sydney, NSW 2000) • Collier, D., Soldenhoff, K. and Griffith, C. (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, New Illawarra Road, Lucas He
Slide 2: Agenda
For personal use only Project location and history Historical process development Mineralogy Sulphation bake/leach + materials handling Primary separation – Zr/Nb & REE & impurity rejection Downstream processing – Zr, Nb & REE concentrates Hastings Project Process Development – Past and
Slide 3: Largest heavy rare earth project in Australia
Largest heavy rare earth project For personal use only in Australia (>35% HREO:TREO) Resources for +25y @ 1 Mt/a ~10,000 t REO + RMO/a projected Past process development/initial piloting Favourable infrastructure Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2
Slide 4: +25y mine life with existing resources
+25y mine life with existing resources (@ 1 Mt/a) For personal use only 36.2 Mt Indicated and Inferred JORC resources at 0.21% TREO (0.18% HREO) including 0.35% Nb2O5 and 0.89% ZrO2 (comprises 27.1+9.1 Mt) Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 5: Open cut scenario
For personal use only Open cut scenario Minimal over-burden Longitudinal section from the east Surface Consistent grade Extended ore body N&S Open to N&S and at depth Surface HREO GRADE Viewed from the south Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 6: Historical process development: Warren Springs Laboratory
For personal use only Warren Springs Laboratory (WSL) - 1987–1990 conducted as the “Brockman Project” for West Coast Holdings Process Development work included: Mineralogy Beneficiation Grinding assessment Definition of bake/leach flow sheet Mini-plant of bake/leach trials ANSTO role
Slide 7: Pilot-plant, batch test work and potential approaches
For personal use only Pilot-plant Batch Test Work Potential Approaches Defined Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 8: Ore mineralogy studies 2011–2013
For personal use only Multiple ore mineralogy studies (2011 – 2013) using QEMSCAN/SEM/XRD Predominant gangue - quartz, muscovite and albite REE mainly associated with columbite and ‘gel-zircon’ Nb/Zr associated with columbite & titanian samarskite Complex, multi-phase assemblages comprisin
Slide 9: Ore mineralogy: valuable minerals
Ore Mineral Chemical Formula For personal use only (~wt%) Columbite FeNb2O6 0.3 Titanian Samarskite-Y YFe3+(Nb,Ti)2O8 minor Cerianite-Ce (Ce4+,Th)O2 minor REE Minerals (Ce,La,Nd,Y,Yb,Nb)(PO4/oxide) 0.2 Fine grain size Beneficiation Diverse reactivities Hastings Project Process Development – Pa
Slide 10: Ore mineralogy: gangue minerals
For personal use only ↑muscovite – historical focus as Al project Bake/leach flow sheet handles ↑Si Ore Mineral Chemical Formula (~wt%) Quartz SiO2 45 Muscovite KAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH,F)2 25 Alkali Feldspar KAlSi3O8 4 Biotite K(Mg,Fe)3[AlSi3O10(OH,F)2] 3 Fluorite CaF2 3 Albite NaAlSi3O8 11 Hornblende
Slide 11: Major Australian projects: rare earth distribution
For personal use only Major Australian projects Different RE distribution* Reflects HRE mineralisation *Boynton, V.W. (1985) Chapter 3. Cosmochemistry of the rare earth elements: Meteorite studies, In Rare Earth Element Geochemistry (P. Henderson, ed.), (Developments in Geochemistry 2), pp. 11
Slide 12: ANSTO test work programs 2011–2013
For personal use only Number of test work programs undertaken and completed by ANSTO Minerals from 2011 – 2013 examining: Critical assessment of historical lab and piloting data Mineralogy and ore variability Optimisation of H2SO4 bake/leach Identification of target areas for improvement
Slide 13: Bake/leach test work
For personal use only 417 kg/t 560 kg/t 590 kg/t 619 kg/t 762 kg/t Post Bake Fluidised Bed Reactor Rotary Kiln Agglomeration Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 14: Redefined flow sheet and bake/leach optimisation
Redefined flow sheet to reflect emphasis For personal use only on REE and Zr/Nb not Al (‘Brockman’ focus) Optimisation of H2SO4 bake/leach Bake Grind – P80 ≤20 µm Acid addition – 750 kg/t Temperature – 275oC Duration – 1 h Leach Density – ≤3 L/kg ore Temperature – 80oC Duration – 1 h Hastings Pr
Slide 15: Extraction results and mineralogy influence
For personal use only Locked-in gel zircon and niobates prevail Possible further scope for grind optimisation Muscovite dissolution Clear influence of mineralogy Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 16: Solvent extraction: impurity rejection
For personal use only Defined by optimisation results Al/Fe rejection KEY in SX Co-extraction of RE Critical assessment of approach in context of downstream processing Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 17: Solvent extraction: iron reduction and loading
FeIII reduction in PLS via FeO or SO2 feasible For personal use only Loading of Zr/Nb AND REE not appropriate Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 18: Two Stage solvent extraction
Development of ‘Two Stage’ SX For personal use only No ‘trade-offs’ w.r.t. Zr/Nb vs RE Achieves ‘bulk’ impurity rejection Compliments downstream approaches Optimisation studies on-going Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013
Slide 19: Targets for ongoing process development
Targets for on-going process development programs: For personal use only → Complete definition of Zr/Nb SX → Better define Zr/Nb downstream processing → Critically assess alternative to Y+REE SX → Better define Y+REE downstream processing Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – C
Slide 20: Conclusions
For personal use only Complex mineralogy – challenging process development Opportunities remain for optimisation of front-end (ore → PLS) SX (Primene JMT) appropriate for Zr/Nb + Al/Fe rejection ‘Two Stage’ SX current baseline approach Alternative Y+REE primary separations worthy of invest
Slide 21: Hastings Project Process Development
For personal use only Hastings Project Process Development – Past and Present – Critical Minerals 2013