Search Minerals Inc. (TSXV: SMY) (“Search” or the “Company”) is pleased to report that SGS Canada (Lakefield) (“SGS”) has been commissioned to conduct preliminary metallurgical testing on a channel sample from SILVER FOX for recovery of a zirconium and hafnium mineral concentrate. SILVER FOX is the fourth major mineralized zone in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District and is enriched in zirconium content in comparison to FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Resources.
HIGHLIGHTS – ZIRCONIUM AND HAFNIUM RECOVERY TESTING
A SILVER FOX sample weighing approximately 17 kilograms has been delivered from the channel sample program;
SGS have proposed a program of preliminary metallurgical work on the SILVER FOX sample comprising:
° Sample preparation (crushing and grinding)
° Sample characterization including zirconium mineralogy
° Concentration testing using gravity, magnetic separation and zircon mineral flotation methods
SGS will also test a sample of FOXTROT leach residue from the recent optimization program for by-product zirconium and hafnium recovery. The preliminary SILVER FOX test results will be used to select the test conditions for the FOXTROT leach residue.
Greg Andrews, President/CEO states, “The delineation of two CREE resources (FOXTROT & DEEP FOX) and the discovery of two other significant CREE-Zr-Hf mineralized zones (FOX MEADOW & SILVER FOX) is a significant development for our company. We are very pleased to engage our processing consultants, SGS Canada, to provide the preliminary metallurgical work on zirconium and hafnium recovery from the SILVER FOX and FOXTROT material. SGS has been instrumental, along with Dr. David Dreisinger, our VP-Metallurgy/Director, in the development of the direct extraction process flowsheet for our rare earth elements. Our focus remains on rare earth element recovery, but the potential to add value through recovery of a zirconium and hafnium coproduct is very exciting. Entry into the zirconium and hafnium supply chains could offer additional funding and offtake opportunities in addition to what is available from the rare earth supply chain.”
