Green Shift Commodities (GCOM-V) Metallurgical Update for the Berlin Deposit with High Recoveries through Membrane Technology
Nov 9, '22 - NR
Green Shift Commodities is pleased to announce the results of further test work that show membrane technology being utilized for testing at the Company’s Berlin Deposit to be highly efficient in separating uranium, battery commodities and rare earth elements found in the Company’s Berlin Deposit (“Berlin”). Prior test work showed that not only could membranes significantly reduce the size of the processing plant but could simplify the recovery of phosphoric acid in comparison to the design modelled in the previous economic assessment of the Project completed in 2013. The current reported results are from tests undertaken during the second phase of a three-phase testing program, completed earlier this year.
Highlights
The test work was successful in achieving uranium, nickel, vanadium and rare earth element recoveries of over 95%.
Phosphoric acid recovery is comparatively lower and other membranes will be tested to improve its recovery.
The greater efficiency of membranes in separating rare earth elements could significantly increase the potential of the Berlin Deposit.
Trumbull Fisher, Director, and CEO commented, “We are very pleased and encouraged by the improved recoveries achieved by membranes in recovering the green energy metals during metallurgical testing on our Berlin asset. This asset contains commodities that are critical to the global green movement as we drive towards cleaner sources of energy and energy storage. In addition, we continue to seek other battery metal assets that would compliment Berlin’s core commodities and be accretive to our Company’s vision of becoming a go-to source of clean energy commodities.”
Membrane Efficiency
Test work completed to date demonstrates that membrane separation is a highly efficient process at concentrating uranium, nickel, vanadium, rare earth elements, molybdenum and zinc from a liquid that was synthesized to match the pregnant leach solution (“PLS”) – the liquid generated from leaching the mineralized rock - from the Berlin Deposit. The results show that metals are effectively separated from the PLS. While phosphoric acid recovery is not as good with the selected membranes, further work will consider options to improve this – aiming for a target range of 80% to 90% recovery.
Table 1. Results of membrane test work showing the efficiency of metals and phosphate recovery from a pregnant liquor solution that simulated a PLS from the Berlin Deposit.
Commodity
| Percentage Recovery | | Option A | Option B | | Uranium | 97.1 | 99.7 | | Nickel | 97.5 | 99.9 | | Vanadium | 97.0 | 99.9 | | Phosphoric acid | 79.3 | 63.6 | | Rare Earth Elements | 98.5 | 99.7 | | Molybdenum | 86.5 | 97.6 | | Zinc | 96.6 | 99.9 | | | | | | Flow Rate Reduction (%) | 90.2 | 81.2 |
Next Steps
In response to the rapid adoption of lithium ferro-phosphate (“LFP”) as safe, reliable batteries by the electric vehicle industry, it is a priority for the Company to assess the potential costs/benefits of producing ferro-phosphate from Berlin. It will be assessed as to whether the phosphate from Berlin can be combined with iron to form ferro-phosphate for LFP batteries, rather than simply producing phosphoric acid as was originally contemplated.
The rapid advances in sensor-based sorting technology requires that this be tested on mineralized material from Berlin. This technology uses scanners to detect physical and or chemical characteristics of mineral-bearing components of the crushed rock as it emerges from the mine and uses a jet of compressed air to remove the mineralized fragments from waste fragments. If this technology works on mineralized material from Berlin, it could significantly enhance the efficiency, and could potentially lower operating costs, of a future processing plant.
Further work is planned to strive to improve the recovery of phosphoric acid from the 63%-70% achieved so far to a target range of 80% to 90%.
Qualified Person
The information related to membrane systems in this news release has been verified and approved by Johann van der Westhuysen, MEng, BEng, Managing Director of Synexus (Pty) Ltd, a process engineering services company that specializes in membrane separation applications in hydrometallurgy. Mr. Van der Westhuysen is registered as a Professional Engineer (PrEng) (Chemical) with the Engineering Council of South Africa and as a Chartered Chemical Engineer (CEng) with the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Engineering Council of the United Kingdom. Through this designation, Mr. Van der Westhuysen is a Qualified Person (“QP”) as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. The synthetic PLS was prepared by, and the membrane test work conducted under the direct control of, the QP. All test samples were submitted under chain-of-custody for analyses at an accredited laboratory, and all analytical results were received directly by the QP. The data analysis and the opinions expressed on the data are those of the QP.
For further information on the Berlin deposit, refer to the technical report entitled “Technical Report on the Berlin Uranium – Battery Commodity Deposit, Colombia” dated April 25, 2022, which is available under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
About Green Shift Commodities Ltd.
Green Shift Commodities Ltd. is focused on the exploration and development of commodities needed to help decarbonize and meet net-zero goals.
The Company is developing the Berlin Deposit in Colombia. Apart from uranium, for clean nuclear energy, the Berlin Deposit contains battery commodities including nickel, phosphate, and vanadium. Phosphate is a key component of lithium-ion ferro-phosphate (“LFP”) batteries that are being used by a growing list of electric vehicle manufacturers. Nickel is a component of various lithium-ion batteries, while vanadium is the element used in vanadium redox flow batteries. Neodymium, one of the rare earth elements contained within the Berlin Deposit, is a key component of powerful magnets that are used to increase the efficiency of electric motors and in generators in wind turbines.
For further information, please contact:
Trumbull Fisher, CEO, Green Shift Commodities Ltd.
E: tfisher@greenshiftcommodities.com
Tel: (416) 917-5847 |
