Rapid Critical Metals has delivered striking ore sorting results at its Webbs Silver mine, nearly doubling silver grades in unprocessed stockpiled ore and achieving over 90% mass rejection in processed waste, potentially reshaping project economics.
- XRT ore sorting upgrades silver grades to over 1000 g/t
- Unprocessed ore sample upgraded from 565 to 994 g/t Ag
- Processed waste sees 94% mass rejection with silver upgraded
- Ore sorting could reduce milling and operating costs
- Further testing planned on fresh drill core samples
Ore Sorting Nearly Doubles Silver Grade in Stockpiled Ore
Rapid Critical Metals (ASX:RCM) has reported breakthrough results from X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting tests on historical stockpiles at the Webbs Silver mine in New South Wales. The unprocessed ore sample, originally grading 565 g/t silver, was upgraded to 994 g/t Ag with a remarkable 98% silver recovery in the concentrate fraction. This suggests the potential for a substantially smaller processing plant footprint while losing only around 2% of the contained silver to waste.
Processed Waste Stockpile Also Shows Strong Mass Reduction
Tests on historically processed waste material delivered equally impressive mass rejection results. The processed waste sample saw a 94% mass rejection rate, with silver grades upgraded from 164.6 g/t to 1,120 g/t Ag in the first pass. Although the feed grade was lower due to prior processing, the ability to reject barren material at such a high rate could significantly improve project economics by reducing milling throughput and associated costs.
Two-Stage Sorting Enhances Recovery and Concentrate Quality
TOMRA Sorting Pty Ltd conducted two passes through the sorter for both sample types. The initial pass produced a high-grade concentrate, while the second pass reprocessed the rejected material to recover additional middlings. This approach consistently delivered silver upgrades and mass reductions across all runs and size fractions tested, highlighting the broad applicability of XRT sorting to the Webbs stockpiled material.
Operational and Environmental Benefits from Ore Sorting
Ore sorting offers more than just grade enhancement. By rejecting barren host rock ahead of milling, it can reduce energy consumption, tailings storage requirements, and operating expenses. Rapid’s Managing Director Byron Miles noted the technology is now mainstream in the resource sector and expressed optimism about extending these results to fresh drill core samples currently being evaluated. This could further refine the upcoming scoping study and potentially unlock new value streams from low-grade material previously destined for waste.
Next Steps Focus on Confirming Results in Fresh Ore
While these results are based on historical stockpile samples with unknown original locations, the company plans to test drill core samples from ongoing resource drilling to validate the ore sorting response in fresh material. This follow-up work will be crucial to confirm the scalability and economic impact of ore sorting at Webbs. The findings dovetail with Rapid’s recent exceptional silver and lead recoveries from flotation test work, underscoring the project’s growing metallurgical potential.
Bottom Line?
Ore sorting at Webbs could reshape processing strategy, but confirmation on fresh ore remains key.
Questions in the middle?
- Will ore sorting deliver similar upgrades on fresh drill core samples?
- How will ore sorting integration affect capital and operating costs in the upcoming scoping study?
- What impact could these results have on the scale and design of the Webbs processing plant?