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Chase Mining Corporation Limited (ASX:CML) is an ASX listed metals and mining company based in Australia. It has several projects in Australia and Canada which are owned by the companyâs wholly-owned subsidiaries; Torrington Minerals Pty Ltd which operates in Australia and Zeus Minerals Pty Ltd (Australian subsidiary) and Zeus Olympus Sub Corp (Canadian subsidiary) both of which operate in Canada.
On 23rd April 2019, the company announced that it has received a conditional written indicative future offtake offer under which the company will be supplying 2,000 to 5,000 tonnes of topaz concentrate per month. The primary condition for the quality of the product that is to be met under the offtake agreement is  optimisation of the topaz concentrate to a level which ensures that its free silica (quartz) content is less than 1%. This is to meet the respiratory health concerns to make sure that a saleable abrasive product is produced.
This follows an extensive quality testing of a bulk sample of the nominally 97% topaz concentrate by an international abrasives supply company. Chase Mining has supplied the material for the testing which is representative of what would be produced by a proposed gravity recovery plant.
To meet the product quality, the company is taking forward its ongoing topaz concentrate clean-up (free silica/quartz removal) testwork which includes experimentation with modified electrostatic methods after minor pH changes and Heavy Media Separation (HMS) to similarly remove the quartz from the topaz. These are however not been proven economically viable for the commercialisation given the relatively low value of abrasive products.
The company has contacted Satake Australia in Penrith which produces and market Air Gravity Tables for grain and other seed cleaning purposes. Satake Australia has a small demonstration plant which it has used for the non-quantitative testwork on the topaz. The testwork is not optimised for mineral separation, and dark coloured impurities (tungsten and monazite) were clearly seen at the top of the table and the quartz at the bottom portion. Microscope studies of a total of 10 samples indicated that the topaz concentrate is largely free of quartz, but the samples were not processed through a magnetic separation due to which dark impurities were also present in the sample. After these basic tests, air separation is being considered that could be a commercial option for the removal of the free silica (quartz) content of the topaz concentrate to below 1%.
The two table tests confirmed that at least 50% of the topaz at a silica content is meeting the specifications set by blasting media health and is achievable on an air table.
The company has a market capitalisation of A$3.1 million. The stock has 52-week high and low of A$0.065 and A$0.015. The stock has shot up by 20% and is trading at an intraday high of A$0.018 as of 23rd April 2019 (AEST: 01:43 PM). In the last six months, the stock has delivered a negative return of 65.9%, and YTD return stands at negative 42.3%
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