Titanium has been designated as a critical mineral by governments worldwide and is in soaring demand for its use in energy storage technologies, surgical implants, semiconductors and pigments.
Marmota says its Muckanippie project is perfectly positioned to tap into the rising market, with the company stating that unlike conventional titanium deposits where processing costs can skyrocket due to deep mineralisation and high iron content, the titanium at Muckanippie appears to be low in iron and highly accessible occurring from the surface.
Metallurgical test work is now underway, including advanced techniques such as heavy liquid separation, x-ray fluorescence and x-ray diffraction to evaluate the heavy mineral concentrates for titanium. Initial results are expected within weeks and management is confident it will soon ben able to confirm the high-value titanium content of its discovery.
The Muckanippie find sits within the revered Archaean Mulgathing Complex of the Gawler Craton, a region known for world-class mineral deposits such as BHP’s Prominent Hill and the Challenger gold mine.
The deposit is just 50km from Marmota’s core gold projects at its Aurora tank and Campfire bore which are also, importantly, near major transport infrastructure, including the Adelaide-Darwin and Adelaide-Perth rail lines.
The strategic proximity of Campfire bore and Aurora tank, as well as the broader Gawler Craton project presents opportunistic synergies for Marmota in a growing titanium market and record gold price environment. Notably, all of its gold resources lie close to surface -within 100m – making them amenable to open-pit mining and low-cost processing similar to what it expects possible at Muckanippie.
Marmota’s prime focus continues to be trained on the quick development of a low-cost gold production hub at Aurora tank and potentially Campfire bore with the price of the yellow metal continuing to bump along above $4000 per ounce.
And as the metallurgical test results from its titanium discovery roll in, the market meerkats will also be keeping a beady eye on developments there with Marmota seeking to add a potential world-class, high grade and shallow titanium deposit to its continually growing shallow gold resources at the same project.
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