www.maca.net.au
Maca Mining:
96
Ewing Street, Welshpool WA 6106
Tel
08 9351 8488
MAcA civil:
Unit 1, 7 Rothschild Place, Midvale WA 6056
Tel
08 9278 9555
it owns 70% with partner and operator Mineral Resources.
Following on from a prefeasibility study in October 2012,
a testwork program commenced targeting the production of
high-purity lithium battery feed-stocks, lithium hydroxide and
lithium carbonate, on a continuous scale using spodumene
concentrates from Mt Marion. Results to date are encouraging
and Australian and international full patent applications for the
process flowsheet have been lodged.
Roskill – who study and report on world production and
consumption, the operations of producers, end-use market
applications, price trends and trade patterns – have forecast
an extraordinary increase in the consumption of high-purity,
battery-grade lithium hydroxide and carbonate, underpinned
by growth in rechargeable batteries. The current median price
for lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate is US$7,500 and
US$7,100 per tonne on a cost, insurance and freight basis
to the United States or Europe (source:
Industrial Minerals
25
June 2013).
“
While the electrification of the transport system is
anticipated to eventually drive demand for lithium batteries,
the surge in renewable energy generation is creating a global
market for stationary energy storage that has been forecast
to grow to as much as $100 billion by 2020,” said Managing
Director Chris Reed. “There is every chance that lithium-based
solutions will serve a large portion of that market.”
Reed’s second advanced mineral asset is the wholly-owned
Barrambie titanium-vanadium project. Barrambie’s Eastern
Band is one of the highest grade hard rock titanium deposits
globally (behind Rio Tinto’s Lac Tio mine in Canada). A recent
mineral resource update confirms Barrambie as one of world’s
highest grade titanium deposits at 22% TiO2.
Formal laboratory scale testwork in Canada has confirmed
high-purity titanium dioxide can be precipitated selectively
from an acid leach solution at recoveries greater than
90%.
This has been achieved on both run-of-mine ore and
magnetic concentrates from the Eastern Band of the Barrambie
Fe-Ti-V deposit.
A mini-pilot plant testwork program is planned to commence
at the end of 2013. An engineering cost study is planned to
commence subject to board approval after the technology has
been proved as viable on a continuous basis.
“
Reed’s suite of minerals belongs to a larger group of
minerals that have been identified as critical commodities for a
high-tech future by US and Australian government bodies,” said
Chris Reed. “So developments in technology and innovation
present an exciting opportunity to exploit our unique assets.
“
We are committed to creating value through the disciplined
evaluation and development of two long-life advanced mineral
operations which will maximise shareholder returns from a low
operational and financial risk profile,” he concluded.
Electric car charging points for are being rolled out in
London for recharging hi-tech lithium-based batteries