ASX-listed Viking Mines informs that minerals processing company Mineral Technologies has completed an independent concept processing study for the Linka tungsten project, in Nevada, in the US, defining a conventional modular processing pathway for scheelite mineralisation.

The study assessed the indicative capital and operating costs and construction times to establish a modular processing plant to treat scheelite-bearing mineralisation from the Linka project and deliver a saleable tungsten concentrate.

The study leveraged the metallurgical testwork completed by Viking in the first half of this year, which has ultimately delivered a 56.9% tungsten trioxide (WO₃) concentrate at 76.0% recovery.

The study provides a technical basis to inform the maiden drilling campaign and subsequent resource evaluation activities.

The process facility has been designed around offsite fabrication of modular units to minimise on-site construction duration.

Mineral Technologies has estimated an indicative period of about 15 months for procurement, fabrication and on-site assembly of the process plant modules, comprising about 12 months for procurement and fabrication and three months for on-site assembly.

This period, however, does not represent an overall project development schedule.

Concept design mill capacity is defined at 300 000 t/y and assessed on a plant design basis only, and not a production target.

Metallurgical parameters were established from Viking’s testwork with a conservative 60% recovery of scheelite into a 50% WO₃ concentrate (conservatively below current testwork results).

The outcomes complement recent metallurgical testwork, which produced a high-quality 56.9% WO₃ concentrate at 76% recovery, and precede the maiden reverse circulation drilling campaign now mobilising.

The study establishes a technical processing basis that may support progression to a scoping study following the definition of a mineral resource and completion of the necessary mining, metallurgical, infrastructure and other technical work.

“This study gives us an independent, credible engineering view that Linka mineralisation can be processed through a conventional, well-understood flowsheet – and, importantly, through a modular plant designed to keep site works and upfront capital efficient.

“It's another piece of technical derisking as we move the rig to site for our maiden drilling campaign focussed on defining a mineral resource to support progression towards a scoping study,” Viking Mines CEO and MD Julian Woodcock says.

“Our near-term focus remains testing the primary tungsten system with the drill bit, and this study means we already have a clear processing pathway to build on as the resource picture develops. With tungsten pricing at current levels, the small modular plant we have identified through this concept processing study would have potential outstanding shareholder returns,” he adds.