Group 6 Metals has collaborated with the University of Tasmania on a project expected to benefit the company’s tungsten’s assets on King Island, Tasmania.
The University of Tasmania’s world-renowned Centre for Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences (CODES) has been granted $3.5m to investigate environmentally sustainable production of critical metals in partnership with regional industry partners.
Group 6 Metals is one of several companies operating Tasmanian mining projects that will
work with the university on this project, expected to commence towards the end of 2022.
Tungsten is recognised by the Australian and other international governments as one of several critical minerals that will be essential for sustainable economic growth and development in the future.
Group 6’s Dolphin Tungsten mine is host to the highest-grade tungsten deposit of significant size in the western world.
As part of the project, Group 6 is providing the university with access to its world-class
tungsten assets on King Island, including the under-construction Dolphin mine, the historic Bold Head mine and its exploration tenements.
University staff will work with Group 6’s staff on research projects, with the company to provide in-kind support, logistics, information and access to drill core, mining and processing activities.
The company began construction of Dolphin in Q1 CY2022 and is targeting
first tungsten concentrate in Q1 CY2023.
Group 6 Metals chief executive officer, Keith McKnight, said operating Dolphin in an environmentally sustainable way was a key part of the company’s environment, social and governance strategy as it progressed toward producing first tungsten concentrate next year.
“We see several potential benefits for Group 6 in this exciting project, including an improvement to our exploration techniques which may lead to an increase in our resource base across our tungsten assets,” he said.
“This project will also aim to enhance our recoveries of tungsten in the years ahead as we
become a tungsten producer of global significance on King Island. Importantly, the project aligns well with G6M’s vision of maximising the extraction of tungsten metal from the Company’s ore bodies and our intention to lead the way with environmentally sensitive downstream processing.”