Known as the Southern Extension, the zone is a 2-km-long sand bar that measures up to 250 metres wide, with depths of 6.5 to 8.5 metres. So far, NAR has drilled 53 holes along a 28-km stretch of beach, and the results have been consistent with an earlier government seismic survey that mapped the base of the beds.
In recent metallurgical test work on the heavy mineral sands, consultants for the company recovered a concentrate grading 20% TiO2. NAR says these early recovery tests, as well as previous electron-microprobe analyses on the mineral grains, suggest that a higher-grade concentrate can be produced. There are markets for two types of concentrate: chloride processes require a minimum 58% grade, and sulphate processes and slag (for production of ferrotitanium) require a lower grade, around 50%.
The company proposes a hybrid metallurgical process, incorporating both conventional magnetic separation of the ilmenite and additional separation technologies to take out other magnetic minerals.
NAR has extended its drill program to test the extension further, and results from that work are pending.
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