I’m grateful for 5hareholder’s post. NCZ getting Zinc concentration yields above 50% has been the largest perceived risk from DD I’ve conducted, consulting with metallurgists and analysts. So having the previous general mine manager of MMG raise a specific concern gave me recourse to further research and either justify the large position I hold or sell down and mitigate my risk. Based on the answer I received from my email to Patrick Walta below, and further verification with experienced metallurgists I know with industry experience- I am now comfortable with my position and in consideration of acquiring more at these prices.
From: Patrick Walta <
[email protected]>
Date: 4 December 2017 at 1:29:25 pm AWST
To: Matt
Subject: RE: NCZ Carbon issue
Hi Matt,
Thanks for your email and the kind words. Great to hear from investors joining us for the ride as we progress toward the restart of operations.
With regards to your comments on carbon, this is not an issue for our proposed tailings operations.
By way background, the historical processing of the original Century ore body encountered free flotation of carbon. The carbon within the ore body was at that time hydrophobic and floated without any reagent assistance. To use a laymans analogy, it was effectively like putting 'milo into milk' in that the milo (/carbon) tends to initially sit on the surface as opposed to being completely mixed. Historical operations managed carbon efficiently within the existing Century Processing Plant via a simple carbon pre-float system (flotation vessels prior to lead and zinc vessels to allow removal of carbon). The carbon pre-float ensured the previous operations achieved the target concentrate grade.
The current tailings and the behaviour of the carbon within has changed in that the carbon is now completely wetted. That is, the flotation reagents used in the historical process have been soaked up by the carbon resulting in the carbon now being hydrophilic. The benefit of this is that, while carbon is still present in the tailings ore body, it is now efficiently controlled by the same depressants (dextrin/F100) as other gangue material in the ore body (e.g. silica). Carbon is therefore not a discrete material that needs to be managed separately to other gangue material.
The wetting of carbon and its non-issue within the proposed tailings operations has been demonstrated in testwork performed by both New Century and MMG and in several different independent laboratories. It has also been demonstrated from samples obtain from multiple drilling programs across the entire dam (including the 10,000t bulk trial of tailings through the existing plant). Both MMG and New Century have achieved concentrate grades of 50% through testwork.
Note that we are getting together a fact sheet on this for education of the broader market which will be released in due course. We are restricted in what can be put on social media websites by our social media policy and so getting a fact sheet out to the border market should cover off this perceived issue.
Please feel free to contact me anytime should you have further questions.
Kind regards,
Patrick Walta | Managing Director | New Century Resources
Suite 4, Level 9, 350 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000
M: +61 415 203 600
E:
[email protected]
W:
www.newcenturyresources.com
