Buchans announces successful tests on its NB manganese project

Buchans Minerals Corporation (BMC), together with its partner, Minco plc (“Minco”), has announced the results of a preliminary bench scale pre-concentration test program conducted by Thibault & Associates Inc. of Fredericton, NB on a composite sample from the Company’s Plymouth deposit located on its Woodstock manganese property in New Brunswick.

The tests were conducted with a view to upgrading the deposit, from a grade of approximately 11% manganese (“Mn”) to a concentrate grade of 15% to 20% Mn for the purpose of potentially improving economics of a proposed Electrolytic Manganese Metal (“EMM”) production plant at Plymouth. Pre-concentration methods assessed included High Gradient Magnetic Separation (HGMS), Flotation and Heavy Media Separation (HMS). Tests used material from a composite sample taken from five drill holes drilled at the deposit in 2011.

Warren MacLeod, President of BMC, said; “These results are another very positive milestone for Plymouth, as they suggest our mineralization is amenable to industry-accepted pre-concentration methods that allow us to investigate if pre-concentration will lower operating costs further and improve the economics of the project to achieve our goal of becoming among the lowest cost EMM producers in the world.”

The Plymouth deposit is believed to represent one of the larger manganese carbonate deposits in the world. Diamond drilling completed in 2011 and 2013, has confirmed the deposit width to vary between 80 metres and 225 metres near surface and suggests the mineralization may be amenable to open pit mining with very low stripping ratios.