Blue Sky Uranium Commencing Advanced Process Design Testwork for the Ivana Uranium-Vanadium Deposit
Blue Sky Uranium Commencing Advanced Process Design Testwork for
the Ivana Uranium-Vanadium Deposit
TSX Venture Exchange: BSK
Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MAL2
OTCQB Venture Market (OTC): BKUCF
VANCOUVER, BC
,
April 6, 2021
/CNW/ -
Blue Sky Uranium Corp.
(TSXV: BSK) (FSE: MAL2) (OTC: BKUCF),
"Blue Sky" or the "Company")
is pleased to
announce that the Company is preparing to execute a second phase of process design tests for the Ivana uranium-vanadium deposit at the Company's Amarillo
Grande Project in
Rio Negro Province
,
Argentina
. Independent Technical Advisor
Chuck Edwards
, P.Eng., will again oversee the testwork program and ongoing
process design to support future advanced engineering studies.
"The Ivana deposit is the cornerstone of value at the Amarillo Grande Project. This detailed metallurgical program is a key step to further advancing Ivana and
building additional value for the project as a whole,"
stated
Nikolaos Cacos
, Blue Sky President & CEO.
The metallurgical testwork will be completed at the Saskatchewan Research Council, (SRC) in
Saskatoon
, Saskatchewan. SRC is one of
Canada's
leading
providers of applied research, development & demonstration, and technology commercialization, including specific expertise in uranium. SRC is an ISO 9001:2015
certified company. Results of these studies will allow refined processing capital and operating cost estimates and will assess the characteristics of final uranium
and vanadium products. Further program details and a summary of previous results are provided below.
Chuck Edwards P.Eng
. is a distinguished Professional Engineer and metallurgist with extensive experience in Research and Development, operations, government
service, consulting and engineering management. He specializes in uranium processing for both alkaline and acid leach plants and was involved in the engineering
design of all the current uranium facilities in
Saskatchewan's
Athabasca
Basin, and has worked on uranium projects on five continents
.
Mr. Edwards was the
Process Engineering Advisor at the Saskatchewan Research Council, Director of Metallurgy at Amec
Foster Wheeler
, and Principal Metallurgist at Cameco
Corporation, among others. Further, he has been a Technical Consultant to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
Vienna Austria
since 1999 and served
as President of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) in 2011-2012. He was the independent qualified person responsible for the
process design and testwork program for Ivana documented in the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) announced
February 27, 2019
. Further details on
Chuck Edwards
background can be found
here
.
Details of Current Process Design Program
The upcoming studies will be carried out on a new composite bulk sample consisting of mineralized material from the Ivana deposit. The process unit operations to
be investigated in this second set of tests include:
membrane filtration and liming
uranium-vanadium separation by solvent extraction
uranium and vanadium precipitation
uranium calcining, and vanadium calcining.
Membrane filtration tests will be carried out with loaded leach solution (liquor) from the alkaline carbonate process. The membrane filtration process will yield
three products: 1) a concentrated loaded leach liquor, 2) a concentrated reagent liquor for reuse in leaching, and 3) a clean fluid for washing uranium and
vanadium precipitates. The testwork will determine the precise chemistry and the flow rate of each process stream.
Liming reduces the bicarbonate concentration in the concentrated loaded leach liquor and also precipitates impurities such as sulfate ion, iron, thorium and radium.
The precipitates are removed by filtration. The filtrate is feed to the solvent extraction (SX) circuit. The program will assess the consumption of liming reagents
and the precise chemistry and the flow rate of each process stream.
The SX circuit separates the uranium and the vanadium into two aqueous solutions. The uranium solution is feed to the uranium precipitation process. Similarly, the
vanadium solution is feed to the vanadium precipitation process.
Uranium is precipitated as uranium peroxide, also known as yellowcake, which is calcined to uranium oxide, which is drummed for shipping to
customers. Vanadium is precipitated as ammonium metavanadate, also known as redcake, which is calcined to vanadium pentoxide, which is also drummed for
shipping to customers. The testwork program will evaluate the efficiency of the precipitation process for each of uranium and vanadium, the consumption of
precipitation reagents, the precise chemistry and flow rate of each process stream, and the purity of the uranium oxide and the vanadium pentoxide products
relative to market standards.
Summary of Metallurgical Results to Date
In
December 2018
, BSK completed a first set of process design tests for the Ivana uranium-vanadium mill. The tests were completed at the Saskatchewan
Research Council (SRC) in
Saskatoon
, Saskatchewan.
Based on the testwork, the overall process plant recovery is 85% for uranium (derived from 89% leach feed preparation recovery and 95% subsequent alkaline
leach circuit recovery); and 53% for vanadium (derived from 89% leach feed preparation recovery and 60% subsequent alkaline leach circuit recovery).
Recoveries were determined through the mineralogical, metallurgical and process engineering test work program completed by The Saskatchewan Research
Council (SRC), as detailed in the Blue Sky's Press Release dated
February 7th, 2019
.
The work in included:
Mineralogical determination
leach feed preparation
leach feed thickening
slurry carbonation
uranium-vanadium leach
leach tailings filtration
The conventional uranium minerals in the Ivana test sample are carnotite, liebigite, and tyuyamunite. Two additional uranium minerals include an oxidized variant of
coffinite, called β-coffinite by Blue Sky, and a yet un-named one.
Leach feed preparation, using agitated attrition scrubbing, separates the smaller -100 micron diameter uranium-vanadium particles from the larger barren +100
micron diameter particles. The smaller particles constitute the leach feed. The larger particles are waste, eventually to be disposed in mined-out areas. Leach
feed preparation increases the leach feed uranium and vanadium grades by approximately four times.
Leach feed thickening provides a suitable leach feed slurry density for leaching. Slurry carbonation increases the concentration of leach reactants to a level
suitable for uranium and vanadium leaching.
The uranium-vanadium leach is an alkaline carbonate (sodium carbonate and bicarbonate) process. No oxidant was required to achieve the recoveries noted
above.
Leach tailings filtration separates the waste barren leached solids (tailings) from the valuable uranium-vanadium loaded leach liquor.
Process Design Criteria
The process data from all of the process design tests will be used to derive process design criteria for the Ivana uranium-vanadium mill, allowing more refined
design of the mill and derivation of capital and operating cost estimates for the mill.
Qualified Persons
The metallurgical program is conducted under the guidance of
Chuck Edwards
, P. Eng. FCIM, an independent consultant to the Company and a Qualified Person
as defined in National Instrument 43-101. The contents of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Mr. Edwards.
The design of the Company's exploration programs is undertaken by the Company's geological staff under the supervision of David Terry, Ph.D., P.Geo. Dr. Terry
is a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.
About the Amarillo Grande Project
The Company's 100% owned Amarillo Grande Uranium-Vanadium Project in
Rio Negro Province
,
Argentina
is a new uranium district controlled by Blue Sky. The
Ivana deposit is the cornerstone of the Project and the first part of the district for which both a Mineral Resource Estimate and a Preliminary Economic
Assessment have been completed. Mineralization at the Ivana deposit has characteristics of sandstone-type and surficial-type uranium-vanadium deposits. The
sandstone-type mineralization is related to a braided fluvial system and indicates the potential for a district-size system. In the surficial-type deposits,
mineralization coats loosely consolidated pebbles, and is amenable to leaching and simple upgrading.
The Project includes several other target areas over a regional trend, at or near surface. The area is flat-lying, semi-arid and accessible year-round, with nearby
rail, power and port access. The Company's strategy includes delineating resources at multiple areas and advancing the entire project to prefeasibility level.
For additional details on the project and properties, please see the Company's website
www.blueskyuranium.com
.
About Blue Sky Uranium Corp.
Blue Sky Uranium Corp. is a leader in uranium discovery in
Argentina
. The Company's objective is to deliver exceptional returns to shareholders by rapidly
advancing a portfolio of surficial uranium deposits into low-cost producers, while respecting the environment, the communities, and the cultures in all the areas in
which we work. Blue Sky has the exclusive right to properties in two provinces in
Argentina
. The Company's flagship Amarillo Grande Project was an in-house
discovery of a new district that has the potential to be both a leading domestic supplier of uranium to the growing Argentine market and a new international market
supplier. The Company is a member of the Grosso Group, a resource management group that has pioneered exploration in
Argentina
since 1993.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Nikolaos Cacos"
______________________________________
Nikolaos Cacos
, President, CEO and Director
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent
risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments the Company believes, expects
or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, statements about the Company's plans for its mineral properties; the Company's
business strategy, plans and outlooks; the future financial or operating performance of the Company; and future exploration and operating plans are forward-
looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those
discussed in the forward-looking statements and, even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have
the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations
include, among other things: the impact of COVID-19; risks and uncertainties related to the ability to obtain, amend, or maintain licenses, permits, or surface
rights; risks associated with technical difficulties in connection with mining activities; and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results
will not be consistent with the Company's expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Readers are
encouraged to refer to the Company's public disclosure documents for a more detailed discussion of factors that may impact expected future results. The
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, unless required pursuant to applicable laws. We advise U.S.
investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral
deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties.
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CO: Blue Sky Uranium Corp.
CNW 09:30e 06-APR-21