MineSense XRF Scanning Testwork Confirms Ore Sorting Applicability at CuMo
Boise, Idaho, Sept. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Idaho Copper Corp. (OTC Pink: COPR) is pleased to announce that it has received initial results from scanning and amenability testwork performed using MineSense XRF scanning technology from representative samples of the three main geological zones at the CuMo Idaho copper-molybdenum-silver deposit. These samples were tested by MineSense at its Vancouver, BC, Canada facility, and involved a series of simulations:
- First, run of mine ore samples from each zone were repeatedly sent (ten times) through the MineSense XRF sensor ATM system, which replicates a mining shovel bucket
- Next, the ore was crushed to <.5 inches and run through a revolving carousel equipped with the same XRF sensors
- Thereafter, each sample was crushed to less than 5 mm and sent again to the carousel for further XRF sensor testwork.
- Finally, the material was coned, quartered and split into 500 gm samples, and then sent to the ALS-Chemex laboratory in Vancouver for typical chemical and ICP analysis (inductive coupled plasma spectroscopy).
The amenability testing and modelling results reported by MineSense are extremely encouraging and demonstrate that (1) the MineSense technology is capable of distinguishing between the different copper and molybdenum grades that can be mined by shovels from the CuMo deposit , and (2) the copper and molybdenum mineralization at CuMo strongly lends itself to ore sorting at the mine face or on belts using XRF sensing technology.
The two graphs below for amenability modelling results show the ability of MineSense XRF shovel-based sensors to delineate between higher and lower grade copper and molybdenum CuMo ore.
These results support separating the metal-bearing veins from the host rock in the CuMo stockwork deposit. Idaho Copper’s plan is to utilize ore sorting to separate a significant portion of run-of-mine waste and lower-grade material immediately after mining, substantially increasing the head grade of the material being fed to the mill.
The Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)1 completed in June 2020 by SRK, based on 10-foot sample intervals, concluded that ore sorting would remove 28% of the mined material from mill feed, meaning that 72% of mined material would pass through to the mill. The current XRF analysis indicates that with optimized ore sorting, a marked improvement is possible, with a major portion of the mined material removed prior to sending higher-grade ore for mill processing. The grade enhancement effect for mill feed after scanning and separation of waste and lower-grade material results in a reduction in volume of material routed to the mill and should allow the corresponding mill size to be much smaller than that proposed in the 2020 PEA. This is further projected to yield a significant reduction in capital and overall operating costs.
The grade enhancement effect for mill feed after scanning and separation of waste and lower-grade material results in a reduction in volume of material routed to the mill and should allow the corresponding mill size to be much smaller than that proposed in the 2020 PEA. This is further projected to yield a significant reduction in capital and overall operating costs.
Notes: 1The PEA is preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Ore-Sorting is an industry technical term only and does not imply that there is any disclosure of Reserves currently at the CuMo project.
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The targets and the potential grade enhancements are conceptual in nature as there has been insufficient work done to confirm the target values and it is uncertain that further work would result in realizing these targets.
About Idaho Copper Corporation
Idaho Copper Corporation is a mineral exploration and development company focused on exploring and developing a massive copper-molybdenum-silver deposit in Idaho (United States), (“the CuMo” project). The CuMo project currently consists of one hundred and twenty-six (126) federal unpatented lode mining claims, and six (6) patented mining claims. In total, the project comprises approximately 2,640 acres. The unpatented lode mining claims and patented claims are situated in an unorganized mining district in Boise County, Idaho.
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