Initial exploration and evaluation has been completed by Adonos Resources (VSE) on the company’s rutile property in the Villenar area of Chile. The company is exploring the prospect for rutile which has important commercial applications as an ore of titanium.
After completing a program of geological mapping, trenching and sampling over the property’s rutile-bearing intrusive, Adonos has estimated preliminary open pit reserves at 53 million tonnes averaging about 1.2% titanium dioxide to a depth of 100 metres. One-third to half of that estimate may have grades above 1.5% titanium dioxide, the company said. Adonos’ consultant has recommended further work including 1,000 metres of diamond drilling and detailed surface work prior to a final feasibility study. Costs to complete the feasibility study are estimated at around $300,000.
Adonos said recovery tests on the mineralized material indicate that a salable rutile concentrate can be obtained with a combination of gravity and flotation necessary to exceed recoveries of 80%. Rutile is a strategic mineral with many applications including high-quality pigments as well as commercial and military aircraft production. One metric tonne of rutile currently sells for US$790, up from US$420 in 1987.
Elsewhere, a bulk sample of gold-bearing material from the company’s Beta Vargas gold property in Costa Rica has been sent for heap-leach recovery tests. The results will be incorporated into a feasibility study. The Cost Rica project is a joint venture between Adonos and Lyon Lake Mines (ME).
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