10th Mar 2025 10:55
(Alliance News) - Empire Metals Ltd shares rose on Monday after it announced results from a recent titanium dioxide product development testwork programme.
The London-based explorer and resource developer, currently focused on the Pitfield titanium project in Western Australia, said preliminary testwork has delivered a high-purity titanium dioxide product, which assayed at 91.6% TiO2.
It said the product under development was entirely free of any deleterious impurities and is suitable for high-quality titanium sponge metal or high-grade titanium dioxide pigment production.
The testwork was carried out, the company said, on mineral concentrates produced from the in-situ mineralised weathered cap that extends across the Pitfield project.
Further testing is currently underway, Empire said, to refine the metallurgical implementation and further improve the product's quality.
"Development of the processing flowsheet continues at a remarkable pace, a testament to the talent of our project team," said Managing Director Shaun Bunn. "Now, with the success of our very first product finishing trial, we have tested every stage of our process flowsheet, confirming its suitability in recovering titanium dioxide from anatase and rutile, the most abundant titanium minerals encountered in the in-situ mineralised weathered cap."
Furthermore, Empire said that over the coming months it plans to utilised metallurgical bulk samples currently being collected from the weathered cap, to produce a bulk product sample for marketing purposes.
"The focus will now shift back to developing a more comprehensive understanding of the ore characteristics, and the potential to further improve the efficiency of each stage of the process, through further bench scale testing," Bunn said. "This ongoing work will cover the entire flowsheet, including ore handling, mineral separation, beneficiation, purification and product finishing.
"With the pending delivery of our metallurgical bulk samples, collected from the current air-core drilling programme, we will be able to upscale the bench scale testwork to include industry scale testing and look to commence the engineering work necessary for the design of the pilot plant."
Shares in Empire Metals were trading 6.5% higher at 11.50 pence on Monday morning in London.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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