Idaho Copper ore sorting feasible: preliminary scan

Varacio, developer of the TruScan XRF x-ray fluorescence technology, has submitted the results of its scanning work for Idaho Copper’s CoMo deposit in Boise County, Idaho, confirming the possibility of ore sorting at the property.

The work on the first six drillholes, with the cores at 1.5-cm intervals, has allowed Varacio to examine the grades, composition, and distribution of copper and molybdenum contained in the deposit. This phase of the work follows an initial visual sorting analysis it conducted in June 2022.

The six holes scanned so far include holes C09-39, C09-47, C11-49, C11-52, C11-64 and C12-67. A total of 37 holes are available for scanning.

“[We intend] to utilize and optimize industry-proven ore-sorting technology, which is designed to separate waste and lower grade material from smaller volume, higher grade ore that will enter a mill for further processing,” Varacio officials said of the Idaho Copper site work.

“Since a large part of the waste will be rejected, and lower grade ore will be sent to a stockpile, ore sorting substantially improves the grade of material being fed to a mill. Importantly, the elimination, removal and separation of a significant percentage of waste material prior to processing will allow a smaller mill or concentrator than would be needed without ore sorting. This is expected to translate into material savings in capital and operating expenditures.”

The company added that it was first informed in 2020 that its XRF technology could be used to identify the mined material grade after the site’s preliminary economic assessment, which was stage 1 of the project.

“The current results are extremely encouraging because they validate the possibility of separating the metal bearing veins from the host rock. This means a large portion of waste and lower grade material could be separated immediately after mining, and therefore the head grade fed to the mill could be substantially higher than the grade found in the in-situ resource,” it said.

Veracio is a subsidiary of Boart Longyear.

Source: Idaho Copper

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