- Moblan lithium project featured in April 2006 issue of Industrial Mineral magazine-TORONTO, Ontario (March 16, 2006) –
GlobeStar Mining Corporation (TSX:V-GMI) is pleased to announce that it has completed preliminary metallurgy on samples from its Moblan lithium project.
Recently completed preliminary metallurgical testing by SGS Lakefield produced up to a 7.4% Li20 spodumene concentrate, representing 15.8% of the ore, which exceeds the high specification industry standard of 7.25% Li20. A 5.17% Li20 concentrate was also produced (to meet the 5% Li20 glass grade standard) representing 24.38% of the ore.
Future metallurgical work will focus on purifying the mineral product including reducing the iron content.
“Moblan is an important asset for GlobeStar shareholders because it is one of the pillars of our strategy to diversify both value and growth beyond our core Cerro de Maimón high grade copper project in the Dominican Republic”, said Bill Fisher, President and CEO, GlobeStar Mining. “Spodumene, a material that can be produced from the high purity pegmatite at Moblan, is used in the glass and ceramics industries to drastically reduce the amount of energy needed for production.”
The potential opportunity presented by Moblan is featured in the April 2006 edition of Industrial Minerals magazine.
Spodumene’s current use in the glass and ceramics industry relates to its ability to lower production costs. The mineral is used as a flux in the production process to lower batch melting temperatures without affecting quality. Spodumene is also believed to help lower whole process NOx emissions.
The Moblan project is located on a major road 100 kilometres north of the railhead mining town of Chibougamau, Quebec. The deposit occurs as a cluster of pegmatite dikes and sills (see map). Diamond core drilling of the Dona Fiona sub-vertical dyke system returned 69 m grading 0.78% lithium, equivalent to 1.67% Li20, and 7.5 metres of 0.34% Li and 240ppm tantalum in an adjacent sill (see release of November 16, 2005).
The feldspars are very pure with average mineral grades of the K-feldspar of 15.5% K20, (plus 1.55% rubidium) and 0.01% Fe203, and Na-feldspar of 11.2% Na20 and 0.02% Fe203 (see attached probe results). Separation tests for the feldspars by flotation are in progress, seeking to isolate the above minerals.
For reference, Industrial Minerals, in their Feb 2006 issue specified the following value to minerals that may be produced at Moblan.