AUSTRALIAN SILICA QUARTZ GROUP LIMITED
EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH UPDATE - HARDROCK HIGH PURITY
QUARTZ AND SILICA
HIGHLIGHTS
only | ➢ Targeting high purity hard rock quartz occurrences with scale finalised | ||||||||||
after +2 year assessment of +100 high purity quartz targets throughout | |||||||||||
Australia | |||||||||||
➢ ASQ holds 4 high purity quartz (HPQ) tenements (1 in WA & 3 in QLD) | |||||||||||
covering 286km2 all with known visual quartz occurrences demonstrating | |||||||||||
potential to produce HPQ products | |||||||||||
use | ➢ Applications made to incorporate White Springs and Quartz Hill quartz | ||||||||||
occurrences both with historic non-JORC quartz resources into ASQ Far | |||||||||||
North Queensland tenements | |||||||||||
➢ Recent testwork results indicate potential to produce HPQ products from | |||||||||||
ASQ exploration tenements | |||||||||||
➢ Testwork of rock chip samples from the Lake Seabrook Project returns | |||||||||||
personal | grades of 99.98% SiO2 | ||||||||||
➢ ASQ Far North Queensland rock chip sampling by ASQ on granted | |||||||||||
US$5,000 per tonne | |||||||||||
tenements with results up to 99.99% SiO2 after acid washing | |||||||||||
➢ Testwork completed with innovative processing flowsheet developed by | |||||||||||
ASQ's HPQ R&D program comparing favorably to conventional processing | |||||||||||
methodology | |||||||||||
➢ Exploration programs planned to evaluate quantity of identified quartz | |||||||||||
occurrences in both Western Australia and Queensland | |||||||||||
➢ HPQ identified in CSIRO 2021 Critical Energy Minerals Roadmap as a | |||||||||||
mineral essential to the advancement of many technology and energy | |||||||||||
sectors | |||||||||||
➢ ASQ receiving enquiries from potential HPQ customers as well as parties | |||||||||||
wishing to purchase the projects in their entirety | |||||||||||
➢ Market pricing for HPQ understood to range from US$300 to greater than | |||||||||||
For | |||||||||||
Quartz outcrop | |||||||||||
Pandanus Creek Project, QLD | |||||||||||
15 December 2021
ASX Code: ASQ
AUSTRALIAN SILICA QUARTZ
GROUP LTD
ABN: 72 119 699 982
DIRECTORS:
Robert Nash
Non Executive Chairman
Luke Atkins
Non Executive Director
Neil Lithgow
Non Executive Director
Pengfei Zhao
Non Executive Director
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND
COMPANY SECRETARY:
Sam Middlemas
Head Office:
Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road
Subiaco WA 6008
Mail:
Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road
Subiaco WA 6008
- +61 8 9200 8200
- +61 9 9200 8299
- admin@asqg.com.au
- www.asqg.com.au
Share Registry:
Automic Group
GPO Box 5193
Sydney NSW 2001
- 1300 288 664 (within Australia)
- +61 2 9698 5414 (international) www.automicgroup.com.au
Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road, SUBIACO WA 6008
Phone: +61 8 9200 8200 Fax: +61 8 9200 8299 www.asqg.com.au
For personal use only
Australian Silica Quartz Group Limited (ASX:ASQ, "ASQ" or "the Company") provides the following update on the Company's High Purity Quartz ("HPQ") Projects and Research and Development ("R&D") efforts. All silica and quartz projects are held 100% by ASQ's wholly owned subsidiary Australian Silica Quartz Pty Ltd.
ASQ have secured a number of hard rock quartz deposits in Western Australia and Queensland and the company is currently evaluating the potential to produce a high-grade lump silica or hard rock quartz product.
High Purity Quartz Market
HPQ (+99.95% SiO2) is considered a highly specialised commodity with a low tonnage, high value market. The commodity is used in the production of:
- semi conductors
- solar panels (cover glass and silicon metal production)
- specialist technology applications
In 2021 CSIRO identified HPQ as a 'Critical energy mineral' in an emerging theme that is explained by the convergence of two primary mining and energy sector trends. The first, 'critical minerals', represents a subset of minerals that are of growing concern due to potential supply risks and projected demand increases across a wide range of applications. Separately, the transition to renewable energy is underpinned by technologies that are more critical mineral intensive than fossil fuel incumbents and are expected to undergo accelerated growth over the coming decades.
Table 1: Typical high purity quartz (silica) specifications and pricing by market
Other | Market | Typical price | ||||||||||||
Type or Application | SiO2 (%) | Elements | ||||||||||||
Size (Mtpa) | (US$/tonne) | |||||||||||||
(%) | ||||||||||||||
'Low Grade' HPQ | ≥99.95 | ≤0.05 | 0.75 | US$300 - 600 | ||||||||||
'Medium Grade' HPQ | ≥99.99 | ≤0.01 | 0.25 | US$500 - 800 | ||||||||||
'High Grade' HPQ* | ≥99.997 | ≤0.003 | <0.1 | >US$5,000 | ||||||||||
Modified from a table by Richard Flook and Industrial Minerals December 2013
*High grade high purity quartz, with <30ppm, is the standard is the standard high purity material produced by Unimin Corp. and TQC at Spruce Pine
Note 1: Specific other elements may be limited by application. E.g. Fe2O3<100ppm for solar panel cover glass
Note 2: Generally, 'high purity' quartz has Fe2O3<15ppm, Al 2O3<300ppm, and alkali and alkali earth oxides <150ppm
Note 3: Limits can vary according to the composition of other raw materials in the application
Target Identification and Assessment
Over the course of +2 years ASQ has systematically identified and evaluated over 100 hardrock quartz targets throughout Western Australia and Queensland. Most have been visited on the ground by Company geologists and assessed for the potential of hosting high grade quartz deposits. The primary aim has been to identify large scale quartz occurrences that demonstrate the potential to produce HPQ products. A number of exploration tenements have been applied for and then surrendered following more detailed assessment.
Whilst the Company continues to search for additional high quality hardrock quartz occurrences, ASQ considers the current hardrock quartz tenements in both Western Australia and Queensland demonstrate excellent potential for development (Figure 1).
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Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road, SUBIACO WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9200 8200 Fax: +61 8 9200 8299 www.asqg.com.au
For personal use only
Quartz outcrop at Lake Seabrook (WA)
Figure 1: ASQ High Purity Quartz Project Locations
Lake Seabrook High Purity Quartz Project
The Lake Seabrook project is located on E77/2684, 42km northeast of Southern Cross in Western Australia's Yilgarn region. ASQ have identified an epithermal quartz vein system that can be traced over 5km with up to 30m true width (Figure 2). Rock chip sampling has been carried out at various locations along the occurrence and multiple rounds of lab testing completed. Conventional crushing/scrubbing/screening processing has been compared with the flow sheet ASQ has been developing though in house R&D testwork. Samples collected in a manner considered representative of real-life mining conditions have returned grades of up to 99.97% SiO2, while a similar sample returned grades of 99.98% SiO2 using the R&D flowsheet (Tables 1 & 2). The details of this flowsheet are currently considered commercial in confidence.
The company believes the quartz vein has potential to produce HPQ products.
The next step in evaluating the Lake Seabrook Hardrock Quartz project will be a drilling program to inform preliminary assessment of the quantity of quartz present and provide additional material for quality testing.
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Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road, SUBIACO WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9200 8200 Fax: +61 8 9200 8299 www.asqg.com.au
Environmental approval has been received from DMIRS for a reverse circulation drilling program. Before this drilling can take place, heritage surveys will need to be completed.
ASQ is also assessing the Lake Seabrook tenement for other mineralisation potential. The lease straddles a +10km section of the Youanmi Greenstone Belt at the Koolyanobbing Shear Zone. Historic exploration has been carried out for tungsten, lithium, gold and iron ore. The Company is in the process of reviewing all available historic exploration data.
Table 1: Results from conventional processing of rock chip samples from the Lake Seabrook Project | ||||||||||||
Conventional Crushing, Washing and Acid | ||||||||||||
Conventional Crushing and Washing | Leach | |||||||||||
only | East | North | ||||||||||
mGDA94 | mGDA94 | |||||||||||
Sample | Z50 | Z50 | SiO2 (%) | Al2O3 (%) | Fe2O3 (%) | TiO2 (%) | SiO2 (%) | Al2O3 (%) | Fe2O3 (%) | TiO2 (%) | ||
ASQ-LS-001 | 746348 | 6580084 | 99.90 | 0.053 | 0.011 | 0.001 | 99.94 | 0.034 | 0.003 | 0.001 | ||
use | 746704 | 6579612 | ||||||||||
ASQ-LS-002 | 99.94 | 0.035 | 0.008 | 0.001 | ||||||||
ASQ-LS-003 | 747225 | 6579310 | 99.94 | 0.022 | 0.012 | 0.001 | ||||||
ASQ-LS-004 | 748049 | 6578469 | 99.94 | 0.026 | 0.006 | 0.001 | 99.97 | 0.017 | <0.001 | 0.001 | ||
ASQ-LS-005 | 749038 | 6577387 | 99.93 | 0.031 | 0.007 | 0.001 | ||||||
ASQ-LS-006 | 745757 | 6580550 | 99.38 | 0.121 | 0.469 | 0.009 | ||||||
ASQ-LS-007 | 745794 | 6580566 | 99.93 | 0.023 | 0.019 | 0.001 | 99.97 | 0.018 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
For personal
Table 2: Results from R&D Flowsheet testing of rock chip samples from the Lake Seabrook Project
Sample | SiO2 (%) | Al2O3 (%) | Fe2O3 (%) | TiO2 (%) |
ASQ0012 | 99.980 | 0.0117 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
Note: ASQ0012 collected at the same location as ASQ-LS-007
Figure 2: Lake Seabrook High Purity Quartz Project - E77/2684, ASQ rock chip sampling locations and interpreted quartz vein extent
4
Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road, SUBIACO WA 6008
Phone: +61 8 9200 8200 Fax: +61 8 9200 8299 www.asqg.com.au
For personal use only
Queensland High Purity Quartz Projects
ASQ holds three granted Exploration Permits in Far North Queensland totalling over 240km2. Whilst travel restrictions relating to Covid-19 have recently limited the amount of fieldwork completed on these tenements, a number of rock chip samples have been collected and analysed. The Company has identified multiple quartz occurrences with potential for HPQ products. The area is prospective for other types of mineralisation as highlighted by the recent extensive area applied for by Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Ltd (Figure 3). The surrounding areas have previously been explored for gold, silver, lithium, uranium and base metals. It is not known what Rio Tinto plan to explore the area for.
Table 3: ASQ Queensland high purity quartz rock chip sampling results
East mGDA94 | North mGDA94 | SiO2 (%) | Al2O3 (%) | Fe2O3 (%) | TiO2 (%) | ||
Sample | Project | Zone 55 | Zone 55 | ||||
ASQ0016 | Mt Eliza | 208073 | 7997356 | 99.84 | 0.100 | 0.009 | 0.009 |
ASQ0017 | Mt Eliza | 208962 | 7994888 | 99.63 | 0.257 | 0.012 | 0.013 |
ASQ0019 | Douglas Range | 204018 | 7980466 | 99.95 | 0.020 | 0.016 | 0.001 |
ASQ0020 | Douglas Range | 203894 | 7979978 | 99.99 | 0.007 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
ASQ0021 | Douglas Range | 204784 | 7979746 | 99.17 | 0.565 | 0.048 | 0.037 |
ASQ0022 | Pandanus Creek | 166173 | 7978179 | 99.98 | 0.015 | <0.001 | 0.002 |
ASQ0023 | Mt Eliza | 212680 | 7992521 | 99.98 | 0.013 | <0.001 | 0.001 |
ASQ0024 | Mt Eliza | 213848 | 7992644 | 99.97 | 0.016 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
ASQ0025 | Mt Eliza | 219361 | 7994476 | 99.18 | 0.591 | 0.026 | 0.010 |
ASQ0026 | Douglas Range | 207995 | 7977070 | 99.98 | 0.010 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
ASQ0027 | Douglas Range | 209198 | 7977166 | 99.89 | 0.064 | 0.005 | 0.012 |
ASQ0028 | Douglas Range | 206679 | 7984756 | 99.98 | 0.008 | 0.001 | 0.001 |
High purity silica in lump quartz
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Suite 10, 295 Rokeby Road, SUBIACO WA 6008 Phone: +61 8 9200 8200 Fax: +61 8 9200 8299 www.asqg.com.au
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Australian Silica Quartz Group Limited published this content on 15 December 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 15 December 2021 03:58:03 UTC.