Reaching what President Jean-Guy Masse describes as a major threshold, Orleans Resources (ME) has received positive results from samples taken on its St-Onge wollastonite deposit near Lac St. Jean, Que.
Recent froth flotation tests show that concentrates produced from the St-Onge samples have a purity of 97.5% to 99.5%, while the best commercial products available on today’s market have a purity of 97%, he says. Orleans is encouraged enough by the lab results to proceed with a 100-ton bulk-sampling program on the property this summer. “We will now go to a pilot test,” says Masse, who is having samples processed at both IMD Laboratories in Barrie and the government-sponsored Centre de Recherches Minerales (CRM) in Quebec City.
Probable and possible reserves at St-Onge stand at 9.6 million tons grading 37% wollastonite. The shallow skarn mineralization, discovered in 1989 by the Quebec government, occurs within a Proterozoic calc-silicate unit. Wollastonite, a naturally occurring calcium metasilicate, is used as an additive in ceramics, plastics and paint and also has metallurgical (fluxing) applications. Its white color, acicular nature and high melting point make it an attractive alternative to both asbestos and graphite.
World production is estimated to be about 425,000 tons per year and consumption has been growing annually at the rate of 8-12% for the past 20 years. Depending on its physical characteristics and grade, wollastonite sells for US$140 to US$286 per ton, with the finest grades fetching up to US$584.
Partek Ab of Finland is the only major wollastonite producer that uses the costlier flotation method to process its ore. All the others, including New York-based NYCO, use gravity separation techniques.
Masse estimates construction of a mine and mill at St.-Onge would cost about $25 million. Permitting procedures are under way.
“We are in a market that has a growing demand, we have considerable reserves and a top-quality product.” says Masse. “We are also well-located with respect to infrastructure.”
The property lies two and a half hours away from the deep sea port of La Baie and is accessible by a large gravel road.
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