en.Wedoany.com Reported - PTX Metals Inc. (TSXV: PTX) has released initial metallurgical test results from the W2 copper-nickel-platinum group element (PGE) project located in the "Ring of Fire" region of northern Ontario. The results show that a composite sample, processed through a simple flotation circuit, achieved a copper recovery of 97%, with copper concentrate grade increasing to 28% after cleaning stages, corresponding to a recovery of 92%, indicating the project's potential to produce high-grade copper concentrate.
The W2 project is a multi-metal project prioritized by PTX, with primary target minerals including copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum group elements (palladium and platinum), and gold. Despite extensive historical exploration, no known metallurgical test work had ever been completed on W2. The company commissioned SGS Lakefield to conduct the test program, constructing a composite sample from multiple higher-grade drill core intervals within the project. The sample head grades were: copper 0.78%, nickel 0.32%, palladium 0.29 g/t, platinum 0.11 g/t, and gold 0.04 g/t. QEMSCAN mineralogical characterization revealed approximately 3% chalcopyrite in the sample, well liberated at a primary grind size of 100 microns, with major gangue minerals being pyrrhotite and pyroxene group minerals.
The test employed an open-circuit flowsheet of rougher flotation followed by two stages of cleaning, with the sample ground to 80% passing 55 microns. The rougher stage achieved a copper recovery of 97% at a grade of 8.4%; after two cleaning stages, the copper grade was ultimately upgraded to 28%, maintaining a recovery of 92%. This result indicates that the chalcopyrite in the sample is readily floatable and can be upgraded through a simple process.
The open-circuit test also evaluated the performance of precious metals in the copper circuit. In the final cleaner concentrate, palladium grade was 6.2 g/t (recovery 53%), gold grade was 0.7 g/t (recovery 41%), and platinum grade was 0.1 g/t (recovery 2%). Palladium and gold grades were upgraded 21 times and 16 times, respectively, compared to the head grade. The company is continuing test work to improve precious metal recoveries in the copper circuit and plans to conduct additional tests on higher-grade material.
In a separate nickel circuit, rougher flotation achieved a nickel recovery of 77% at a grade of 0.83%. Since nickel is primarily hosted in a low-grade pyrrhotite matrix, flotation cleaning struggled to significantly upgrade the grade, yielding a maximum concentrate of 5.6% nickel at 6% recovery. The company believes higher-grade nickel samples may produce better results and will explore leaching options such as pressure oxidation (POX) to recover nickel.
PTX also announced the completion of a paragenetic sequence study aimed at characterizing the nature of copper, nickel, gold, and platinum-palladium mineralization in the Central Target Area, with the report uploaded to the company's website. The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Arthur Stokreef, PEng, an independent consultant and Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
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