Oro Verde (ASX:OVL) achieves rare earth metallurgical recoveries up to 75pc from Makuutu

• Oro Verde (OVL) has achieved high metallurgical recoveries of up to 75 per cent from its Makuutu Rare Earths Project
• The aim of this test work was to recover rare earths from mineralisation at the project
• The Makuutu Project is located in Uganda and known to potentially be one of the largest ionic clay deposits outside of China
• The company is planning a drilling and development plan this year to take the project to the next level
• Oro Verde is down 5.88 per cent and shares are trading for 0.8 cents each

Oro Verde (OVL) has achieved high metallurgical recoveries of up to 75 per cent from its Makuutu Rare Earths Project.

The company conducted an initial phase of metallurgical test work and engineering analysis to recover rare earth from mineralisation at the project.

The leaching tests showed high rare earth recoveries of between 45 to 75 per cent Total Rare Earth minus Cerium (TREE-Ce) in three holes. This was achieved using simple extraction techniques.

In 16 holes, a recovery greater than 30 per cent TREE-Ce with very low acid addition was achieved.

Out of 22, only three holes returned REE (rare earth elements) recovery of less than 10 per cent TREE-Ce. This conveys high encouragement as only a small amount was generally not responsive.

The finds have shown the low-cost nature of processing ionic clay rare earth mineralisation with low reagent consumptions. Findings also show the potential to develop a recovery process at a low capital cost.

“Multiple, sizeable areas of mineralisation achieved metallurgical recoveries that exceeded our expectations by using low acid additions and we expect that the next phase of project development will further enhance these outcomes,” Technical Director Dr Marc Steffens said.

“Based on results that we have achieved to date, it appears the Makuutu Project compares very favourably to other clay-hosted rare earths project located outside of China such as the BioLantanidos Project in Chile that has recently secured substantive investment for project development,” Marc added.

The Makuutu Rare Earth Project is located in Uganda and is known to potentially be one of the largest ionic clay deposits outside of China.

So far, drilling at the project totals 47 diamond core holes and 109 historic holes. Mineralisation at Makuutu occurs from surface to depths of 15-20 metres where simple shallow mining methods will be applicable.

Currently, Oro Verde has a 20 per cent interest in the project and is working towards bringing its interest to a total of 60 per cent.

“We are excited to be able to take this project to the next level and are accelerating our efforts based on the highly successful initial drilling program and these metallurgical results,” he added.

The company is planning a drilling and development program which will lead to a feasibility assessment and preparation of a pilot plant.

Oro Verde is down 5.88 per cent and shares are trading for 0.8 cents each at 3:46 pm AEST.