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(Sharecast News) - Empire Metals said it had completed an integrated metallurgical processing flowsheet for its Pitfield titanium project in Western Australia, with bench-scale testwork supporting the production of a premium titanium dioxide pigment product.
The AIM-traded exploration and development company said the flowsheet was capable of producing 99%-plus TiO2 pigment, as well as titanium sponge metal feedstock and a high-grade alumina co-product.
Empire said the flowsheet used conventional processing steps and benefited from Pitfield's mineralogical characteristics, including the ability to reject a low-value gangue fraction early in the circuit, reduce acid consumption and leach temperatures, recycle acid through the alumina circuit and produce a much smaller iron residue stream.
Whole-of-ore flotation testwork confirmed selective recovery of titanium minerals, with rejection of more than 90% of unwanted gangue and concentrate grades above 34% TiO2.
The company said titanium extraction of up to 98% had been achieved through an acid bake-water leach process, following atmospheric-pressure pre-leaching to remove most residual aluminium and iron from the titanium stream.
Empire also said high-grade alumina of 98.7% Al2O3 had been produced from the pre-leach solution, offering the potential for a marketable co-product while improving TiO2 recovery, lowering reagent costs and reducing waste.
Managing director Shaun Bunn said the development of a fully integrated processing flowsheet capable of producing a 99.25% TiO2 product represented "a defining moment" for Pitfield.
"This outcome not only demonstrates the potential to produce high-quality TiO2 products, positioning Pitfield to serve premium pigment and titanium metal markets, but also provides an option to produce high-grade alumina, a highly marketable co-product," he said.
Empire said continuous metallurgical piloting was expected to start in the third quarter of 2026 to validate design criteria ahead of feasibility studies and to produce product samples for evaluation by potential customers and offtake partners.
The company has also commissioned a research programme at Murdoch University's Extractive Metallurgy Hub to develop a process for producing titanium metal directly from Pitfield's TiO2 product through molten salt electrolysis.
The work is expected to run to the end of 2026 and is intended to demonstrate proof of concept and develop a strategy for scale-up to larger continuous pilot operations.
Empire said it expected to release an updated mineral resource estimate in July or August, based on the large-scale drilling programme completed in April.
The existing Pitfield mineral resource estimate totals 2.2 billion tonnes grading 5.1% TiO2 for 113 million tonnes of contained TiO2.
Next steps include detailed engineering studies based on the current flowsheet by the end of the fourth quarter, continued development of product finishing steps for coated rutile pigments and titanium sponge metal feedstock, and the start of continuous pilot testwork in the third quarter.
Bunn said Empire was on track to complete the process design and scoping phase after an extensive period of research, testwork and innovation.
"Pitfield is emerging as a differentiated, large-scale critical minerals project, well-positioned to meet the needs of titanium and TiO2 end-users at a time when new, low-cost supply solutions are increasingly sought after," he said.
At 1127 BST, shares in Empire Metals were up 5.47% at 34.81p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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