LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Empire Metals updated the market on its ongoing mineralogical and metallurgical studies at the Pitfield Project in Western Australia on Wednesday, focusing on the development of titanium-rich ores.
The AIM-traded company said its current evaluations, incorporating both historical research and advanced international expertise, had identified several promising processing routes, guiding ongoing metallurgical testing and flowsheet development.

It said the main goal of the testwork was to create a fully integrated mine-to-market facility, positioning Pitfield as a key supplier to the global titanium pigment and metal industries.

The company was working with both government and commercial laboratories in Australia, employing large-scale equipment and industry vendors to optimise the processing flowsheet.

Initial testing has concentrated on titanite ore found in the bedrock, successfully separating titanium-bearing minerals from lower-value materials.

Recent discoveries of high-purity anatase in the weathered bedrock cap had prompted a shift in focus, with new samples being collected for further testing.

Early results were encouraging, particularly in gravity separation and leaching tests.

Preliminary tests using hydrochloric acid (HCl) had shown that titanite minerals could be dissolved efficiently under controlled conditions, pointing to the potential for an economical processing method.

"I am extremely excited by the progress being made by our development team, led by our process development manager Narelle Marriott, and well supported technically by titanium industry specialists, Dr Trevor Nicholson and Eugene Dardengo," said managing director Shaun Bunn.

"We have commenced research studies with CSIRO and Curtin University scientists, both groups being located here in Western Australia, aimed at providing important information on the nature and origin of the mineralisation as well as the various routes through which to extract the titanium.

"Through the mineralogical studies completed to date at AXT and CSIRO, we now have an increasingly detailed understanding of the mineralisation, both for the fresh and the weathered titanium minerals, as well as for the gangue minerals."

Bunn said the company had also been working closely with titanium industry and market consultants, TiMPC, which was providing commercial guidance into what types of products were most desired by major titanium industry players and how Empire could market its high-purity products towards the high-value end of the market.

"With new knowledge being generated about Pitfield's ore geology and the titanium industry market requirements, plans for the next phase of testwork are being tailored towards the development of a commercial process flowsheet optimised for Pitfield anatase and titanite ores."

At 1359 BST, shares in Empire Metals were up 1.07% at 7.07p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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