Bluejay Mining sends final samples from Dundas for evaluation

Greenland and Finland-focussed Bluejay Mining updated the market on the Dundas ilmenite project on Tuesday, reporting that further and final samples were being sent for incremental customer evaluation.

The AIM-traded firm said bulk sample pilot plant processing was complete, adding that the process flow sheet had been successfully validated.

“The company is pleased to announce the completion of processing of the bulk sample dispatched to Canada from Dundas in September 2019,” the board said in its statement.

“The pilot plant was placed on care and maintenance in March last year following the outbreak of Covid-19.

“The plant was restarted, and processing recommenced earlier this year.”

Bluejay said the final bulk parcels of output from the pilot plant were being distributed, in cooperation with its distribution partner.

The material would undergo further magnetic separation, facilitated by its distribution partner, to be sampled by key-end customers identified by the partner, with the aim of consolidating and potentially extending the existing distribution agreement to cover the entire expected annual output of ilmenite concentrate from Dundas.

Bluejay said the pilot plant, which was in the process of being decommissioned, produced material that exceeded expected specifications for commercial production at Dundas.

In addition, the results and the confirmation of the design of the wet plant circuit “meaningfully de-risked” the production-scale processing plant at Dundas, and gave the company confidence that large volumes of consistent and high-quality ilmenite concentrate could be produced at Dundas.

“Consolidating and extending our current distribution agreement is key for the Dundas project,” said chief executive officer Bo Møller Stensgaard.

“The completion of the pilot plant operation marks the achievement of a critical milestone in validating the process flowsheet.

“This process design confirmation significantly de-risks the mineral separation flowsheet and gives the company the necessary confidence on a key aspect of the engineering design for the operation.”

Stensgaard said that in addition, the experience gained by the Bluejay staff on site at the pilot plant would also prove “invaluable” to the company as it moved into the production phase.

“Our ilmenite product from the Dundas project has been well-received through earlier customer testing, and we are confident that the continued customer sample program with our partner will consolidate and increase this interest.”

At 1523 GMT, shares in Bluejay Mining were up 2.46% at 9.32p.