Hudson Reports Positive Leaching Test Results for the Production of Waste Free Alumina in EU Funded Program VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HUDSON RESOURCES INC. (“ Hudson ” or the “ Company ”) (TSX Venture Exchange “HUD”; OTC “HUDRF”) is pleased to announce results of independent testwork conducted on anorthosite from the White Mountain mine in Greenland. The testwork, conducted in Norway, confirms that anorthosite from the White Mountain mine gives Positive Leaching Results for Green Aluminavery high leach recoveries with short leaching times for aluminum and calcium dissolution. This is the key first step in the production of a waste-free smelter grade “Green Alumina” product for the aluminum industry. This work confirms Hudson’s earlier work completed at SGS Lakefield and current testwork being undertaken at KPM in Kingston, Ontario (see NR2021-03). Hudson’s objective is to demonstrate an economic process to produce a “Green Alumina” product from anorthosite. Hudson has a 31.1% equity interest in the White Mountain anorthosite mine and rights to acquire 100%.
The testwork was conducted by the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Norway as part of its AlSiCal project, and was funded through the European Union’s (EU) Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under grant No 820911. For more information about IFE please see https://ife.no/en/ and for information on AlSiCal please refer to: https://www.alsical.eu/ .
Hudson provided several samples of anorthosite for the testwork including a minus 250 micrometer product and coarse (+100mm) rock samples, crushed and sieved down to 77-760 microns for testing. The IFE determined that the identified samples submitted by Hudson were “of high quality” in the context of the AlSiCal project. Key results are as follows:
- Both the aluminum and calcium are leached simultaneously
- Leaching of between 87-97% wt% (weight percent) in the first two hours
- Leaching of 93-100 wt% in four hours
- Variability within range is attributed to different particle sizes and/or the anorthosites natural heterogeneity
Results were confirmed by ICP-MS analysis and XRF analysis.
Testwork on the two samples demonstrated what IFE considered as “ fast leaching” characteristics and a “ high total dissolution yield (being 100% the theoretical, calculated maximum dissolution yield based on the available analyses)”.
The AlSiCal project objective is to secure for the EU, a sustainable process for the production of alumina, silica and precipitated calcium carbonate by researching, developing and de-risking ground-breaking technology aiming for ZERO Bauxite residue and ZERO CO 2 emissions during their co-production.
Two leaching tests were performed by IFE, which included the following steps:
- Mixing of anorthosite with 20 wt% Hydrochloric acid (HCl) at 140 degrees C
- Cooling of the final reaction mixture
- Separation of liquid and solid fractions by centrifugation and decanting
- Washing of solid fractions and drying
Jim Cambon, President commented: “The EU funded testwork conducted by IFE and AlSiCal independently confirms an efficient and straightforward leaching process of aluminum and calcium from the White Mountain anorthosite. This represents a key step in the production of a waste-free “Green Alumina” product and offers a direct replacement to bauxite which creates almost four tonnes of waste for every tonne of aluminum produced. The time is right for the production of a truly green aluminum in which anorthosite is a key solution.”
In addition to its interest in the White Mountain anorthosite operation, Hudson owns 100% of the Sarfartoq rare earth element (“REE”) project and the high-grade Nukittooq niobium-tantalum project located on the Sarfartoq exploration license. The Sarfartoq REE project has a 43-101 indicated and inferred resource outlining 35,000 tonnes of neodymium oxide plus praseodymium oxide, the two key components in permanent magnets driving the green revolution. There is significant potential to expand this REE resource, while the Nukittooq project has some of the highest reported niobium assays in the industry (see NR2020-15).
J.R. Goode, P. Eng., is a Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and reviewed the preparation of the metallurgical and technical information in this press release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Jim Cambon”