15 September 2014
Strategic Minerals plc
("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company")
Heavy Dense Media metallurgical test work on Cobre material
The Board of Strategic Minerals Plc (AIM: SML; USOTC:SMCDY) is pleased to announce that in line with its previously stated strategy of focusing on the higher value Heavy Dense Media ("HDM") market, the Company has commenced mineralogical test work to support market and process design reviews on magnetite material from its existing Cobre project in New Mexico, USA.
The test work is being conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ("CSIRO") at its Queensland Centre for Advanced Technologies, which has one of the premier iron ore research facilities in Australia.
The test work will identify the characteristics of the Cobre material and its suitability to the HDM market, in particular:
· the size distribution of the Cobre material; and
· the magnetic properties of the potential HDM product.
HDM is a high grade magnetite iron product, used in coal production, water filtration, sintering, magnets and other industries. The coal industry uses HDM in the washing of coals to reduce ash content in the end product. There are various grades of HDM that can be produced but the coal industry requires that HDM product be largely below 53 micron in size, and have greater than 96% magnetics.
Mr Julien McInally, Executive Chairman, said "This initial phase of test work is an important step in evaluating the viability of producing a suitable HDM product. We want to add value to our existing business by pursuing the HDM market which is not directly linked to the iron ore price and generally sells at a significant premium to normal iron ore product. We expect to have results within the quarter, which will guide us on further work where required."
For further information, please contact:
Strategic Minerals plc Julien Mcinally Executive Chairman |
+61 408 704 446 |
Allenby Capital Limited Nominated Adviser and Joint broker Jeremy Porter James Reeve |
+44 20 3328 5656 |
Tavistock Communications Financial PR Jos Simson Nuala Gallagher |
+44 20 7920 3150 |
