Mont Royal Resources (ASX: MRZ) continues to progress its Ashram rare earth element (REE) and fluorspar project in Northern Quebec, Canada.
The company is fast-tracking the next stage of Ashram with the recommencement of key metallurgical test work programs, and has contracted experienced flotation specialists Auralia Metallurgy, which will update the existing flowsheet and build on historical results using a representative bulk sample from the Ashram deposit.
The upcoming program will run multiple batches processing up to 400 kilograms of sample material, starting with three-stage 1kg cleaner tests, followed by a number of 20kg bulk tests.
Updated Flotation Flowsheet
The locked-cycle test program previously completed at Ashram featured a simplified flotation-only beneficiation flowsheet that provided greatly improved grade and recovery metrics compared to prior bench-scale test programs.
The program effectively targeted the monazite and bastnasite rare earth host minerals, producing concentrates grading between 35.8% to 36.8% rare earth oxides at an overall recovery rate of 65% to 68%.
"The flotation concentrate generated from this program will increase our confidence in what is already a robust flowsheet for the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) and pre-feasibility studies,” managing director Nicholas Holthouse said.
“The potential addition of a fluorspar product to the Ashram economics would be a […] welcome boost to the project’s economics.”
Altris PEA Contract
Mont Royal signed Altris Engineering to undertake the Ashram PEA study in mid-November.
Altris has experience in similar project design and execution, notably in Quebec, and will also be able to take advantage of a previous PEA study conducted at Ashram in 2015.
The company anticipates the PEA will take three to six months to complete, and will initially focus on a gap analysis to assess the scope of that previous PEA and identify key areas required to update project configuration.
The study will further assess the fluorspar by-product opportunity in a project considered a potential cornerstone asset in Canada’s critical minerals push.
