Weatherly could gross US$1 billion from mine tailings treatment

In a development that is claimed could see AIM-listed Weatherly International (WTI) gross US $1 billion, the company has partnered with Applied Intellectual Capital (AIC) of Reno, Nevada, US, to evaluate metal recovery from mine tailings dumps apparently owned by the junior mining company.

A brief emailed statement indicated that the parties would evaluate the recovery of copper, zinc and other metals from “substantial” refining waste and mine tailings held by Weatherly.

Weatherly, which has mining and smelting operations in Namibia and advanced projects in Zambia, is said to control over 180 million tonnes of mine tailings, and this could increase substantially once the dispute over its Luanshya project in Zambia is settled.

This latter Zambian project covers a moribund mine in the copper-rich Copperbelt Province, for which an abandonment certificate was issued last year but the government recently claimed to have erred. Weatherly has since taken the matter before Zambia’s Lusaka High Court.

AIC, which last Thursday announced its intention to list on the alternative investment market (AIM), is a US developer of electrochemistry and advanced separations technologies focused on clean and sustainable applications such as advanced batteries, waste water recovery and reuse and metals recovery.

AIC has developed a commercial process to separate and refine metals from highly buffered and high alkalinity ore bodies and from mine tailings.

The statement showed that preliminary assays undertaken on behalf of Weatherly indicate that the dumps controlled by Weatherly could contain up to one million tonnes of copper, zinc, lead and other metals.

“AIC has begun testing samples recently supplied by Weatherly. Should these trials be successful and at today’s prices on the London Metals Exchange, AIC believes that Weatherly’s mine tailings could potentially yield over US $1 billion gross in recovered high grade metals,” it read.

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