Montero Mining and Exploration announced that it had found a sizable strontium deposit in bastnaesite-bearing carbonatite dikes in the Twiga Zone at its flagship project at Wigu Hill in Tanzania. The company is currently focused on developing its Wigu Hill rare earths project.
Strontianite was first found on the site by the Toronto based miner during the initial mineralogical work which identified the bastnaesite and synchisite as the main rare earth bearing minerals. Once it was found that the strontium could be leached into solution during the acid leach test-work undertaken at Mintek, this deposit became economically significant.
The average SrO content of the composites used for the Twiga and Tembo resource estimates is 1.4%. Around 10% of the composites appear to belong to a higher grade population with grades in the range of 2.5% to 6% SrO, with localized concentrations up to 10.80% SrO
Dr. Tony Harwood, President and CEO of Montero said that in addition to the rare earth concentrations in the Wigu Hill carbonatite dikes, the added presence of strontium is a positive new development. He added that metallurgical test work has indicated the strontianite can be leached into solution, suggesting a potential by-product to the extraction of the rare earths.
Ferrite magnets, glass applications and pyrotechnics remain the top end-use industries in strontium consumption, he explained. This was an exciting development as they continued to create value at Wigu Hill Dr. Tony Harwood concluded.