Sep 20 2013
HUDSON RESOURCES INC. is pleased to announce that the Company has successfully produced alumina (aluminum oxide) from initial bench-scale testing on the calcium feldspar anorthosite from its White Mountain Project.
The objective of the testwork, which has been undertaken at SGS Lakefield under the supervision of Hudson's consulting metallurgist, Dr. John Goode, P. Eng., is to produce smelter grade alumina (SGA).
As announced in January 2013 (NR-2013-02), testwork using hydrochloric acid (HCl) leaching demonstrated the high solubility of the anorthosite material at normal atmospheric pressure and relatively low temperatures of 100 degree Celsius. Alumina recoveries from the latest four tests ranged from 95% to 98%. The process also generates an amorphous silica by-product which has applications in the Portland cement industry. Little to no waste material is produced from the process. Following the success of the small scale tests, larger scale tests have now been initiated at SGS to produce sufficient alumina for analysis by potential end users in the aluminum industry.
James Tuer, Hudson's President, stated, "We are very excited with these results and believe we are well on our way to producing a marketable smelter grade alumina. The high solubility of our White Mountain Anorthosite, which is unique to high calcium feldspars, eliminates the need for an expensive high temperature and high pressure leaching process. We have utilized and improved upon existing, unpatented aluminum chloride production processes and we do not require any new technologies to produce a high quality product."
Additional test work has commenced in order to:
- Reproduce the results with larger sample batches;
- Perform additional SGA analyses to analyze the physical properties of the alumina;
- Provide sufficient samples for the aluminum producers to test efficacy of the alumina in the production of aluminum;
- Finalize the flowsheet in order to determine the preliminary economics to produce the alumina.
Currently, the world supply of alumina comes from bauxite deposits located in the Southern Hemisphere which produce a significant amount of red mud waste material. Hudson's White Mountain project is strategically located close to aluminum smelters in Eastern Canada, Iceland and Europe. Alcoa has submitted an application to the Government of Greenland to build an aluminum smelter approximately 80 km from Hudson's White Mountain project.
The White Mountain Anorthosite project is 100% owned by Hudson. The project has three potential high-value applications which are being investigated, as follows:
- A new source of feedstock to the high end fiberglass (E-glass) industry;
- A new source of alumina to supply aluminum smelters;
- A new source of filler material. Fillers are a significant component of the plastics, paints and paper industries.
The company is rapidly advancing the E-Glass project with several Letters of Intent in place, a bulk sample test taking place later this year, and a technical study near completion.
Hudson remains well financed with approximately $4 million in working capital.
Source: http://www.hudsonresources.ca