Diatreme Resources has engaged industry specialist Mineral Technologies (MT) to undertake final metallurgical testwork for the definitive feasibility study for its Galalar silica sand project.

The testing program will use a one-tonne bulk sample taken from an area representing the first five years of planned mining at Galalar.

Two variability samples from other areas within the first 15 years’ mining will also be processed to finalise the process flowsheet.

“We welcome MT’s engagement in this key phase of our Galalar project, particularly given MT’s decades‐long experience in east coast silica sands,” Diatreme chief executive officer Neil McIntyre said.

“The Galalar DFS will give potential project partners and debt providers a high level of confidence in our project and we look forward to advancing this as quickly as possible to deliver our project’s benefits to the community.”

Diatreme recently announced a 30 per cent increase in the size of the Galalar project’s silica resource, to 61.9 million tonnes.

A draft environmental impact study is underway, with Diatreme aiming to receive the necessary environmental approvals and mining lease in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Diatreme said the project could inject about $23‐24 million in the construction phase and up to $42 million in the operational phase for the benefit of Hope Vale, Cooktown and the surrounding region, with estimated total revenue of $80 million per annum.

The objective of the metallurgical testwork under MT is to develop a process flowsheet using the physical mineral separation processes of screening, gravity, attritioning, classification and magnetic separation to produce a high-purity, low-iron silica product with a target grade of 99.9 per cent SiO2 and less than 100ppm Fe2O3.

Other goals of the testwork include determining high purity, silica final product specifications to be further used for
continued marketing of the product, together with obtaining the overall yield of the high-purity silica product from
the ore that is planned to be mined.