Mar 15 2019
Kutcho Copper Corp. takes immense pleasure in announcing an update to its metallurgical program based on research led by Mr Len Holland of Holland & Holland Consultants, UK, an internationally known metallurgical consultant, and Ausenco Limited, a multinational engineering company.
Results up to now propose a simplified reagent group that could realize similar recoveries and concentrate grades, but at lower capital and operating costs in comparison with the 2017 Kutcho Prefeasibility Study.
The revised metallurgical program test results reveal potential for an important value addition to the Kutcho project. The Kutcho team continues to identify opportunities to enhance the value of the project through previously reported resource increases, operational efficiencies through areas such as this enhanced metallurgical performance and progressing towards completion of the Feasibility study.
Vince Sorace, President and CEO, Kutcho Copper Corp.
Optimization Program
Kutcho’s team, headed by Mr Holland, discovered a possibility to enhance the historical metallurgical work carried out by former owners of the Kutcho project. The Company has created an enhanced reagent scheme based on an optimized primary grind and standard zinc depressor reagents to achieve selectivity between the copper and zinc at comparatively high pH in the copper float. The flowsheet and reagent scheme created currently is not just simpler but also has lower operating cost than earlier proposed systems. Additionally, lower levels of zinc reporting to the initial copper concentrate should help in enhancing the overall zinc reporting to the zinc circuit.
Grind parameters are characteristic of those used for polymetallic deposits analogous to Kutcho, with a primary grind expected at 60 μm. The copper rougher concentrate will need a regrind and is currently predicted as ±25 μm, whereas the zinc circuit does not need a regrind.
The 2017 Prefeasibility Study employed life of mine average recoveries of 41.2% gold, 48.0% silver, 75.7% zinc, and 84.7% copper, with the copper concentrate expected to grade 27.6% copper and the zinc concentrate expected to grade 55.1% zinc.
The metallurgical test work is presently in the regrind and cleaner phase to optimize the separation of the value metals into their respective concentrates. Regrind and cleaner phase test work is anticipated to be complete within 2 weeks, with lock-cycle test work to be performed thereafter to establish the overall metallurgical parameters for the feasibility study. It is anticipated that the results of the present test work will be comparable to previous metallurgy, but with lower plant operating and capital costs.
Mr Len Holland, Holland & Holland Consultants, UK.
Mr Holland is a skilled mineral processing engineer with significant proficiency in the recovery of metals from polymetallic ores spanning many years on deposits worldwide. He has over five decades of experience in global operations and consulting, together with, but not restricted to, BP Minerals, Glencore, SNC Lavalin, and First Quantum. The metallurgical test work is being conducted in the Bureau Veritas laboratories in Richmond, BC, Canada, under the direction and supervision of the Kutcho metallurgical team.