NexMetals Achieves an Initial 15.2% Head Grade Increase at Selebi North Using Modern Technology Demonstrating High Recoveries and Significant Waste Reduction
NexMetals Mining (NASDAQ:NEXM) has reported promising initial results from bulk test work using X-ray transmission (XRT) ore sorting at its Selebi Mine in Botswana. The technology demonstrated a 15.2% head grade increase and achieved 98% recovery rates for both copper and nickel.
Key technical achievements include an overall mass reduction of 15.2%, upgrade factors of 1.15 for both copper and nickel, and significant waste reduction. The process successfully separated high-density ore from lower-density waste, with copper and nickel grades upgraded by factors of 1.34 within the sorting process.
The company has initiated additional XRT trials at IMS Engineering in South Africa, focusing on reducing fines production and evaluating pre-concentration potential for the Selkirk project. These improvements could lead to reduced operating costs, water usage, and improved carbon footprint.
NexMetals Mining (NASDAQ:NEXM) ha riportato risultati iniziali promettenti dai test su larga scala utilizzando la tecnologia di selezione del minerale tramite trasmissione a raggi X (XRT) nella sua miniera di Selebi in Botswana. La tecnologia ha mostrato un aumento del grado testa del 15,2% e ha raggiunto tassi di recupero del 98% sia per il rame che per il nichel.
I principali risultati tecnici includono una riduzione complessiva della massa del 15,2%, fattori di miglioramento di 1,15 per rame e nichel, e una significativa riduzione dei rifiuti. Il processo ha separato con successo il minerale ad alta densità dai materiali di scarto a bassa densità, con un aumento dei gradi di rame e nichel di 1,34 all’interno del processo di selezione.
L’azienda ha avviato ulteriori prove XRT presso IMS Engineering in Sudafrica, concentrandosi sulla riduzione della produzione di fini e valutando il potenziale di pre-concentrazione per il progetto Selkirk. Questi miglioramenti potrebbero portare a una riduzione dei costi operativi, del consumo d’acqua e a un miglioramento dell’impronta di carbonio.
NexMetals Mining (NASDAQ:NEXM) ha informado resultados iniciales prometedores de pruebas a gran escala utilizando la clasificación de mineral por transmisión de rayos X (XRT) en su mina Selebi en Botsuana. La tecnología demostró un aumento del grado de cabeza del 15,2% y alcanzó tasas de recuperación del 98% tanto para cobre como para níquel.
Los logros técnicos clave incluyen una reducción total de masa del 15,2%, factores de mejora de 1,15 para cobre y níquel, y una reducción significativa de residuos. El proceso separó con éxito el mineral de alta densidad del desperdicio de menor densidad, con grados de cobre y níquel mejorados por factores de 1,34 dentro del proceso de clasificación.
La compañía ha iniciado pruebas adicionales de XRT en IMS Engineering en Sudáfrica, enfocándose en reducir la producción de finos y evaluando el potencial de preconcentración para el proyecto Selkirk. Estas mejoras podrían conducir a una reducción de costos operativos, uso de agua y una mejor huella de carbono.
NexMetals Mining (NASDAQ:NEXM)는 보츠와나의 셀레비 광산에서 X선 투과(XRT) 광석 분류를 이용한 대량 시험 작업에서 유망한 초기 결과를 보고했습니다. 이 기술은 원광 등급 15.2% 증가를 보였으며 구리와 니켈 모두에 대해 98% 회수율을 달성했습니다.
주요 기술 성과로는 전체 질량 15.2% 감소, 구리와 니켈 모두에 대해 1.15의 등급 향상 계수, 그리고 상당한 폐기물 감소가 포함됩니다. 이 공정은 고밀도 광석을 저밀도 폐기물과 성공적으로 분리했으며, 분류 과정 내에서 구리와 니켈 등급이 1.34배 향상되었습니다.
회사는 남아프리카의 IMS Engineering에서 추가 XRT 시험을 시작했으며, 미분 생산 감소와 셀커크 프로젝트의 사전 농축 가능성 평가에 중점을 두고 있습니다. 이러한 개선은 운영 비용, 물 사용량 감소 및 탄소 발자국 개선으로 이어질 수 있습니다.
NexMetals Mining (NASDAQ:NEXM) a annoncé des résultats initiaux prometteurs issus de tests en vrac utilisant le tri du minerai par transmission de rayons X (XRT) dans sa mine de Selebi au Botswana. La technologie a démontré une augmentation de 15,2 % de la teneur en tête et a atteint des taux de récupération de 98 % pour le cuivre et le nickel.
Les principales réalisations techniques incluent une réduction globale de la masse de 15,2 %, des facteurs d'amélioration de 1,15 pour le cuivre et le nickel, ainsi qu'une réduction significative des déchets. Le procédé a réussi à séparer le minerai à haute densité des déchets à faible densité, avec des teneurs en cuivre et nickel améliorées d’un facteur 1,34 dans le processus de tri.
La société a lancé des essais XRT supplémentaires chez IMS Engineering en Afrique du Sud, en se concentrant sur la réduction de la production de fines et en évaluant le potentiel de préconcentration pour le projet Selkirk. Ces améliorations pourraient entraîner une réduction des coûts d'exploitation, de la consommation d'eau et une amélioration de l'empreinte carbone.
NexMetals Mining (NASDAQ:NEXM) hat vielversprechende erste Ergebnisse aus umfangreichen Testarbeiten mit Röntgenstrahl-Durchleuchtung (XRT) Erzsortierung in seiner Selebi-Mine in Botswana gemeldet. Die Technologie zeigte eine Steigerung des Kopfgehalts um 15,2% und erreichte 98% Rückgewinnungsraten für Kupfer und Nickel.
Wesentliche technische Errungenschaften umfassen eine Gesamtmassenreduktion von 15,2%, Aufwertungsfaktoren von 1,15 für Kupfer und Nickel sowie eine signifikante Abfallreduzierung. Der Prozess trennte erfolgreich Erz mit hoher Dichte von Abfall mit niedriger Dichte, wobei Kupfer- und Nickelgehalte im Sortierprozess um den Faktor 1,34 verbessert wurden.
Das Unternehmen hat zusätzliche XRT-Versuche bei IMS Engineering in Südafrika gestartet, mit dem Fokus auf die Reduzierung der Feinanteile und die Bewertung des Vorkonzentrationspotenzials für das Selkirk-Projekt. Diese Verbesserungen könnten zu geringeren Betriebskosten, Wasserverbrauch und einer verbesserten CO2-Bilanz führen.
- Achieved 98% recovery rates for both copper and nickel with minimal losses
- 15.2% head grade increase from initial tests, improving processing efficiency
- 28.4% mass reduction in sorter feed, significantly decreasing downstream processing material
- Potential reduction in operating costs, water usage, and improved carbon footprint
- Technology currently limited to processing materials larger than 12mm, requiring separate handling of fines
- Additional testing still required to optimize crushing circuit and fines reduction
Insights
NexMetals demonstrates 15.2% waste reduction and 98% metal recovery using XRT sorting technology, significantly improving project economics.
The XRT ore sorting test results from NexMetals' Selebi project represent a significant technological advancement for the company's processing flowsheet. By implementing X-ray transmission sorting, they've achieved a 15.2% reduction in mass going to downstream processing while maintaining an impressive 98% recovery rate for both copper and nickel. This translates to a 1.15x enrichment factor for head grades (from mine to mill), effectively concentrating the valuable minerals before the more energy-intensive grinding and flotation stages.
The technical benefits are substantial: less material requiring grinding means reduced energy consumption, lower reagent usage, and increased mill throughput capacity. The separation technology works by exploiting density differences between valuable sulphide minerals and waste rock, allowing for precise sorting at a production scale.
What's particularly impressive about these results is the minimal metal loss of just 2% for both copper and nickel in the rejected material. In mineral processing, achieving such high recovery while still removing significant waste is the ideal scenario. For the sorted fraction alone (excluding fines), the enrichment ratio reaches 1.34 for both metals, with a 28.4% mass reduction.
The environmental implications shouldn't be overlooked. By rejecting waste early in the process, NexMetals will likely see reduced water consumption, smaller tailings footprint, and lower overall carbon emissions per ton of metal produced. The additional testing now underway focusing on reducing fines production could further improve these results by allowing more material to be effectively sorted.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - July 28, 2025) - NexMetals Mining Corp. (TSXV: NEXM) (NASDAQ: NEXM) (the "Company" or "NEXM") reports initial results from its bulk test work using X-ray transmission ("XRT") ore sorting at its past-producing copper-nickel-cobalt ("Cu-Ni-Co") Selebi Mine in Botswana. These initial results demonstrate the potential to significantly reduce processing mass while maintaining high metal recoveries and minimal losses.
Positive Impact on the Project:
- Increase of Head Grade from Mine to Mill
Potential to reduce the amount of waste rock being sent to the mill and enhancing the head grade by over
- Enhanced Process Efficiency
By removing ~
- High Metal Retention
With
- Economic & Environmental Upside
Bulky waste is diverted pre-processing, leading to lower expected operating costs, shorter critical water usage, reduced downstream tailings, and improved project carbon footprint.
Next Steps:
Driven by these strong initial results, the Company has initiated additional XRT trials on samples from its Selebi and Selkirk projects. The work is being carried out at IMS Engineering in South Africa.
The primary objectives of these programs include:
Reducing the amount of fines produced from the crushing circuit for the Selebi samples. Reducing the fines allows the XRT to process more of the feed increasing the overall sorting efficiency.
Evaluating pre-concentration potential on the Selkirk sample to upgrade head feed grades before flotation.
Assessing overall improvement in processing throughput and waste rejection.
Results from the additional XRT test programs are expected to follow in the coming months.
Morgan Lekstrom, CEO of the Company, commented: "This is a very favorable outcome to enhance the current flowsheet and focus on higher grades with less waste feeding into the mill. These early indications emphasize that XRT technology can significantly reduce downstream processing waste while maintaining exceptional copper and nickel recoveries with minimal metal losses. If integrated into processing flowsheets, this work could allow for early waste rejection, potentially reducing downstream energy and water usage, tailings volume, and overall costs."
Defining the XRT technology and process:
Bulk samples were processed using a production-scale allmineral allsort XRT machine, which separates material based on density differences. The sulphide-rich, high-density ore is retained, while the lower-density waste is expelled. Fines smaller than 12 mm bypass the sorter and are later reintegrated for overall process accounting. The sorting algorithm was optimized to achieve high metal concentrate retention with minimal loss.
Technical Highlights:
- Enrichment Factors: Copper and nickel grades were both upgraded by factors of 1.34, within the sorting process.
- Mass Reduction:
- Sorter feed mass was reduced by up to
28.4% (see table 1), significantly decreasing material that proceeds to downstream processing. - Considering the entire process (including -12 mm fines bypass), this translated to an overall mass reduction of
15.2% and upgrade factor of 1.15 for both copper and nickel (see table 2).
- Sorter feed mass was reduced by up to
- Metal Recovery: Both copper and nickel recoveries reached
98% , with only2% of each metal lost to rejects demonstrating near-complete retention of valuable material.
Table 1: All mineral bulk sort test work results
| STREAM | MASS (kg) | MASS PULL | GRADE | RECOVERY | ENRICHMENT RATIO | |||
| Ni | Cu | Ni | Cu | Ni | Cu | |||
| Ore rejects | 758.0 | 0.14 | 0.15 | |||||
| Upgraded ore | 1 911.0 | 1.34 | 1.34 | |||||
| Sorter Feed | 2 669.0 | 0.99 | 1.00 | |||||
Table 2: All mineral bulk sort test work including -12mm fines fraction
| STREAM | MASS (kg) | MASS PULL | GRADE | RECOVERY | ENRICHMENT RATIO | |||
| Ni | Cu | Ni | Cu | Ni | Cu | |||
| Ore rejects | 758.0 | 0.14 | 0.15 | |||||
| Upgraded ore | 1 911.0 | 1.34 | 1.34 | |||||
| Sorter Feed | 2 669.0 | 0.99 | 1.00 | |||||
| Fines (-12mm) | 2 310.5 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||||
| Upgraded ore + fines | 4 221.5 | 1.15 | 1.15 | |||||
| Feed | 4 979.5 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||||
Qualified Person
All scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Consulting Metallurgist of the Company, Norman Lotter, Mineral Processing Engineer; Ph.D., Pr.Eng., C.Eng., P.Eng., and a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K.
Technical Report
The MRE on the Selebi Mine is supported by the technical report entitled "Technical Report, Selebi Mines, Central District, Republic of Botswana" and dated September 20, 2024 (with an effective date of June 30, 2024) (the "Selebi Technical Report"), and prepared by SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. for NEXM. Reference should be made to the full text of the Selebi Technical Report, which was prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K and is available on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and EDGAR (www.sec.gov), in each case, under NEXM's issuer profile.
About NexMetals Mining Corp.
NexMetals Mining Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company that is focused on the redevelopment of the previously producing copper, nickel and cobalt resources mines owned by the Company in the Republic of Botswana.
NexMetals is committed to governance through transparent accountability and open communication within our team and our stakeholders. NexMetals' team brings extensive experience across the full spectrum of mine discovery and development. Collectively, the team has contributed to dozens of projects, including work on the Company's Selebi and Selkirk mines. Senior team members each have on average, more than 20 years of experience spanning geology, engineering, operations, and project development.
For further information about NexMetals Mining Corp., please contact:
Morgan Lekstrom
CEO and Director
morganl@nexmetalsmining.com
Jaclyn Ruptash
V.P., Communications and Investor Relations
jaclyn@nexmetalsmining.com
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States federal securities laws and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information") based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. For the purposes of this release, forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: the implementation of the objectives, goals and future plans of the Company including the proposed advancement of the Selebi Mine as currently contemplated; the expectation that exploration activities (including drill results) will accurately predict mineralization; the expectation that the Company will implement its drilling, geoscience and metallurgical work on its properties and work plans generally; the anticipated effectiveness and benefits of XRT sorting, including enhanced process efficiency, high metal retention and economic and environmental upside. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, require the Company to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: the risk that XRT sorting will not be effective in practice or confer the benefits expected; capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets; inflation; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) and public disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.com), in each case, under NEXM's issuer profile. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange and its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) nor the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/260258
FAQ
What head grade improvement did NEXM achieve at Selebi North using XRT technology?
What are the recovery rates for copper and nickel using NEXM's XRT technology?
How much waste reduction did NEXM achieve with the new XRT sorting process?
What are the environmental benefits of NEXM's new XRT technology?
What are the next steps for NEXM's XRT testing program?
