en.Wedoany.com Reported - Capacitor Metals Corp. has announced the commencement of a metallurgical program at SGS Lakefield Research in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, for material from the Upper Fir tantalum-niobium deposit. The program, directed by Michel Robert (M.Sc.), aims to process raw material from the Upper Fir deposit into tantalum-niobium (Ta-Nb) flotation concentrate.

The company plans to transport 2 tonnes of crushed rock from a 2,000-tonne bulk sample of the Upper Fir deposit, sourced from approximately 120 tonnes of material stored in Richmond, to the SGS Canada laboratory in Burnaby. The pilot plant program is expected to continue until fall 2026. Historical flotation concentrate recovery rates exceed 75%, and the subsequent concentrate will be used for testing and producing separated final tantalum and niobium oxides for industrial supply.

The Upper Fir tantalum-niobium deposit was subject to a historical Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) completed by AMEC in 2011, with a process design flowsheet based on producing commercially marketable tantalum-niobium concentrate. In subsequent work, estimated total recoveries for tantalum and niobium were increased to 77.2% and 75.1%, respectively, compared to 65-70% in the PEA base case. In the rougher and cleaner flotation circuits, open-circuit recoveries exceeded 96% for tantalum and 92% for niobium.

The Upper Fir tantalum-niobium deposit is one of the largest proven tantalum resources globally, with current indicated resources of 48.4 million tonnes grading 197 ppm tantalum and 1,610 ppm niobium; inferred resources of 5.4 million tonnes grading 191 ppm tantalum and 1,760 ppm niobium. Indicated resources equate to 21 million pounds of tantalum and 171 million pounds of niobium; inferred resources equate to 2.2 million pounds of tantalum and 21 million pounds of niobium.