Temas Resources Corp. announced recently that it has signed an exclusive North American and European Licensing Agreement with MetaLeach Limited for its innovative leaching processes AmmLeach®, HyperLeach®, NickeLeach®, and MoReLeach® and others. (Photo quoted ferm Temas Resources’s website)

 

By licensing MetaLeach™ technology, Temas’ objective is to provide the lowest cost processing of base metals. This is integral to the delivery of technologies and products for now and in the future, especially ‘energy and battery’ metals. This objective will be achieved from the commercialisation of the proprietary & patented hydrometallurgical metals processing technologies (“Leaching Technologies”).

 

“This opportunity brings tremendous potential for attracting strategic partners who want a lower cost, environmentally friendly mineral processing solution for their producing mines,” said Michael Dehn, CEO of Temas Resources. “We will be open to engaging partnerships on an equity basis and/or licencing agreements with royalty arrangements. Direct ownership of mineral projects will also be considered.”

 

The Leaching Technologies have the potential to revolutionize the extraction processes for many base metal deposits. Reducing capital and operating costs and/or improving recoveries, and hence enhancing operating margins at the mine site. Being capable of producing metal or high value products on-site greatly enhances the mine gate economics compared to conventional concentrators. In addition, in many cases, the technologies will enable the treatment of base metals deposits which hitherto have not been possible to treat. The technologies are especially suitable for high-acid-consuming carbonate (oxide) hosted ores.

 

The merits of the Leaching Technologies and commercial adoption success are based on the potential for major operating and capital cost savings (expected to be a minimum 30-40% vs current technologies). This would be suitable and amenable for mines using the Leaching Technologies as the principal mineral processing method, to produce base metals or high value products, at the mine site.

 

In addition, these Leaching Technologies offer other significant operating and environmental benefits, including a reduction in carbon footprint when compared to conventional processing methods. The base metals of most commercial importance are essential for supplying the raw materials for the electric vehicle revolution, energy generation and storage technologies allied with ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) policies that these Leaching Technologies target are copper, nickel, cobalt and zinc.

 

The NickeLeach® process offers a cost effective, environmentally friendly method of processing lateritic ores and concentrates to produce separate nickel and cobalt products. The process operates at ambient temperature and pressure, greatly reducing the cost and complexity of a process plant when compared with all other available technologies.

 

The acid processes consume vast quantities of sulphuric acid whilst NickeLeach® recycles the leaching agent greatly reducing costs. The omnivorous nature of the acid processes results in the production of very substantial volumes of precipitated wastes (hæmatite, gœthite, jarosite, gypsum etc.) which need to be stored in a lined tailings facility to eliminate any acid drainage problems. The highly selective nature of the NickeLeach® process eliminates any precipitation steps, the tailings revegetate rapidly and can be stored safely with minimal monitoring.

 

The ambient conditions used in the NickeLeach® process greatly reduce the capital cost of the plant compared to the high-cost materials required in the acid processes. The recycling of the main leach reagent also greatly reduces the cost compared to acid processes.

 

(IRuniverse)