Baja Mining Corp.: Boleo Pilot Plant Successful Initiation.VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Baja Mining Corp. (the "Company")(TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension Venture:BAJ) is pleased to announce the successful initiation of the Boleo Pilot Plant currently taking place at SGS Lakefield Research Ltd ("Lakefield") in Lakefield, Ontario, Canada. The Company's Vice President of Metallurgy, David Dreisinger, PhD., has been onsite to monitor the pilot plant testing and data analysis and reports the following: The pilot plant started on schedule on Tuesday November 16, 2004 treating a bulk sample of Boleo ore grading 1.9% Cu, 0.087% Co, 0.58% Zn, 3.5% Mn and 8% Fe. The pilot plant flowsheet is essentially a miniature version of the expected full scale circuit and comprises: - Attritioning of the ore with grinding of the oversize; - Acid oxidation leaching of the ore with sulfuric acid in seawater; -Acid reduction leaching of the ore with sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid in seawater; - Partial neutralization neutralization, chemical reaction, according to the Arrhenius theory of acids and bases, in which a water solution of acid is mixed with a water solution of base to form a salt and water; this reaction is complete only if the resulting solution has neither acidic nor with limestone; - Counter current decantation decantation /de·can·ta·tion/ (de?kan-ta´shun) the pouring of a clear supernatant liquid from a sediment. decantation the pouring of a clear supernatant liquid from a sediment. (CCD CCD in full charge-coupled device Semiconductor device in which the individual semiconductor components are connected so that the electrical charge at the output of one device provides the input to the next device. ) washing of the leach residue in thickeners (to separate the metal rich aqueous solution from the clayey waste); - Copper solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW); - Iron removal by pH adjustment and oxidation; - Thickening of the iron residue (thickened residue goes to main CCD for washing); and - Direct Solvent Extraction technology (DSX) for selective recovery of cobalt and zinc (and small amounts of residual copper). DSX technology is the property of Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (Australia) ), Perth, Australia. The Boleo process circuit is starting well and is being run to a high standard by Lakefield staff with the support of Bateman Engineering (Feasibility Study Engineer), Baja Mining Corp., and specialist consultants in solid-liquid separation. Early results are indicating excellent rates of extraction of copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), and zinc (Zn) at +90% Cu extraction, 80 - 85% Co extraction, and 70 - 75% Zn extraction. The slurry being fed into the CCD circuit, for separation of the clayey waste from the mineral rich aqueous solution, is settling as anticipated through the 6 stages of the CCD. The CCD overflow, the copper, cobalt, and zinc rich aqueous solution, is being processed by copper solvent extraction and electro-winning (SX/EW). Copper electro-winning began Thursday, November 18, 2004 with the first copper cathode expected on Monday, November 22, 2004. The copper depleted solution from solvent extraction (the raffinate raf·fi·nate n. The portion of an original liquid that remains after other components have been dissolved by a solvent. [French raffiner, to refine; see raffinose + -ate ) is being treated by neutralization (with limestone) and oxidation to raise the pH and precipitate iron and other impurities. The neutralized and purified solution is now being processed by the CSIRO (Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. It was founded in 1926 originally as the Advisory Council of Science and Industry. ) DSX solvent extraction technology for cobalt and zinc recovery. The cobalt and zinc recovery circuit started on Friday, November 19, 2004. The Pilot Plant, which is budgeted at CDN (Content Delivery Network) A system of distributed content on a large intranet or the public Internet in which copies of content are replicated and cached throughout the network. $1,500,000, will continue until November 28, 2004. Updates on the success of this process milestone will be provided by the Company as they become available. On behalf of the Board of Directors John Greenslade, President The TSX Venture Exchange TSX Venture Exchange Originally called the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX), this was a result of the merger of the Vancouver and Alberta stock exchanges. The goal of TSX Venture Exchange is to provide venture companies with effective access to capital while protecting investors. has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release. Baja Mining Corp. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion