Lifezone Metals is pursuing a two-phase development plan for its Kabanga nickel project located in northwest Tanzania. A major elelment of the project will be a refinery at Kahama designed to enable in-country beneficiation of nickel, copper and cobalt.
A recently released update describing progress of the Definitive Feasibility Study underway for LifeZone Metals’ Kabanga nickel mining project in northwest Tanzania, and at Kahama, where Kabanga’s Hydromet refinery will be located, indicates that high recoveries to finished metals are achievable within short timeframes.
Kabanga, according to LifeZone, is believed to be one of the world’s largest and highest grade undeveloped nickel sulfide deposits. The Kahama Hydromet refinery, the company stated, will allow for in-country beneficiation of nickel, copper and cobalt with low carbon dioxide and zero sulfur dioxide emissions.
Test work in support of the refinery design, using Lifezone’s Hydromet technology, for the Kabanga DFS is being conducted at Lifezone’s laboratory in Perth, Australia, with support from DRA Global.
The company said refinery flowsheet test work undertaken to date includes over 164 bench-scale, batch open-circuit tests and 73 bench-scale locked-cycle tests, incorporating pressure oxidation, solid-liquid separation, neutralization, upgrading and purification processing units. The work has been conducted on a range of concentrate samples generated from the flotation program, with an objective of characterizing the unit process responses, supporting flowsheet design parameters and generating bulk samples for materials handling, paste fill and residue characterization test work.
Concentrate produced from grade-optimized bulk flotation test work was used for hydrometallurgical testing in support of process design, comprising North Deep massive sulfide with mining dilution and grading approximately 19% nickel, 4% copper and 2% cobalt. Concentrate pressure leach extractions through an average of 12 tests (four open circuit and eight locked cycle) were 98.5% for nickel, 97.2% for copper and 98.9% for cobalt. This data set, according to LifeZone, confirmed preliminary findings previously reported and is also in good agreement with the recovery potential as indicated from mineralogy. Pressure oxidation leach rates are confirmed to be rapid.
The company said locked cycle pressure oxidation–neutralization test work to track and demonstrate metal and impurity deportment is ongoing, along with further optimization of solvent extraction parameters. Meanwhile, process design, procurement and fabrication activities are currently underway for a semi-continuous pilot-plant aimed at testing and confirming process design criteria for refinery treatment of Kabanga nickel sulfide concentrate.
