Latest Metallurgy News

Nordic Resources has recorded gold recoveries of up to 90% and copper recoveries of up to 91% at its Kopsa gold-copper project in Finland using a conventional processing route. The results will feed into an updated resource estimate expected in October, while a new 12,000-metre drilling program is already under way.

Gold Mountain has extended reconnaissance rare earth mineralisation at its Down Under Project in Brazil to at least 13 kilometres west of the Irajuba Exploration Target. The strongest result was 10 metres at 2,145 ppm TREO, including 2 metres at 4,607 ppm, but the data remains preliminary and metallurgical recovery is still untested.

Forrestania Resources has increased the British Hill JORC Mineral Resource Estimate by 21% to 212,400 ounces of gold, with higher-confidence Indicated ounces rising 37%. Drilling is continuing, but the project remains at the resource and study stage rather than production.

AIC Mines is paying $120 million for the Mt Cuthbert copper project in northwest Queensland, funded partly by a $70 million placement to Hawke’s Point. The deal would add 246,000 tonnes of contained copper to the group’s resources, but comes before Mt Cuthbert has a single Ore Reserve.

Orbit Resources enters FY2027 with a 17.52Mt Lewis Ponds resource, a preliminary study pointing to a A$481 million pre-tax NPV and a new polymetallic sulphide discovery outside the existing resource. The gains come with familiar junior-miner constraints: a A$3.49 million annual loss, A$3.69 million in cash and further funding still required.

Australian Mines has appointed a specialist consultant team to complete the pre-feasibility study for its Flemington Scandium Project, targeting delivery in the first quarter of 2027. The study will retain a 60-tonne-per-year scandium oxide reference case while testing production scenarios of up to 180 tonnes per year.

Global Gold Mining has reported recoveries of up to 91.4% from metallurgical tests at its Sturec gold deposit in Slovakia, providing a useful processing input for the project’s pre-feasibility study. The result is encouraging, but the weaker 79.5% recovery from transitional material and the laboratory-scale nature of the work remain important qualifications.

Critica has produced high-purity mixed rare earth oxide and iron concentrate samples from its Jupiter project, giving potential counterparties physical products to evaluate. The milestone follows flowsheet improvements including stronger recovery, higher concentrate grades and lower sulphuric acid consumption, but commercial specifications and project economics remain unresolved.

Basin Energy has begun preliminary leachability and XRD studies at its Newmans rare earth discovery, with follow-up drilling assays due imminently. The early-stage program adds a recoverability test to a project already showing a 3.3 km mineralised corridor in northwest Queensland.

Black Canyon has spent the 2026 financial year moving Wandanya from discovery towards resource definition, backed by 17,200 metres of drilling and encouraging manganese beneficiation results. The exploration company ended the year with $7.77 million in cash and no debt, but remains reliant on future funding before any development decision can be made.

PC Gold’s Spring Hill project emerged from FY2026 with a sharply larger resource, fresh institutional funding and a clearer path towards feasibility studies. The gold explorer remains pre-production and loss-making, but its post-year-end A$75 million raise gives it substantial room to expand drilling and development work.

Power Minerals has outlined a maiden conceptual Exploration Target of 9.2 million to 10.7 million tonnes at Morro do Ferro in Brazil, grading 7.8% to 9.2% TREO. The result gives the ongoing drilling program a clearer target, but 43% of the upper estimate comes from an untested projected extension and nine recent holes remain unassayed.