Mining & Trade News

By Jacqueline Monjeza

ASX-listed Fortuna Metals has announced that metallurgical test work program is underway at the Mkanda rutile and graphite Project in Mchinji.

CEO Tom Langley explains that a processing consultant, Mineral Technologies. will process a 5-ton bulk sample through a conventional mineral sands flowsheet aiming to produce a high quality rutile concentrate of over 95% titanium.

Langley says: “We are continuing to push our exploration efforts at the Mkanda rutile project as we await drilling results for the remaining more than 90% of drill-holes still to come in. Completing metallurgical test work is a key step to fast tracking potential offtake agreements with high quality customers in the titanium sponge / titanium metal market used in aerospace, defence, and advanced manufacturing.”

“We aim to follow the same exploration and development pathway as our neighbor Sovereign Metals’ has with the Kasiya deposit but shorten the timeframe. We have proven this by rapidly drilling Mkanda on a 400m x 400m grid within 3 months since acquiring the project, to allow us to potentially put an inferred resource out in the second half of this year.”

“The Company has embarked on a busy first quarter with the management team in country this month having attended the 121 and Indaba Mining Investment Conference in Cape Town to meet with existing and potential new investors plus potential offtake partners. We made multiple visits to our assay laboratories in Cape Town and Johannesburg ahead of a busy year of drilling. We look forward to updating the market with a consistent flow of rutile, graphite and rare earths drilling results throughout the first and second quarter of 2026.”

Mineral Technologies will process the 5-ton bulk sample through a conventional mineral sands flowsheet aimed at producing a high quality rutile concentrate containing more than 95% titanium.

The 5-ton sample is collected within the several large coherent high-grade rutile anomalies identified across an area of more than 25km2. The bulk sample plays a key role in guiding mining studies for the first phase of mining the shallow high-grade mineralisation.

Further bulk sampling also takes place as project progresses to better validate processing characteristics to be used in feasibility studies and mine planning.  

The company says there are still 534 shallow 0-2m composite assays to be returned that will further shape the potential size of the 25km2 high grade greater than 0.95% anomalies identified to date.

The results guide the selection of drill holes that are prioritized for analysis. Selective assaying of high grade areas first increases the turnaround time for assays leading to a quicker potential maiden inferred resource estimation to occur in the second half of 2026.  This is a quick and cost-effective strategy for first pass reconnaissance drilling program designed to highlight the wide spread nature of the rutile mineralisation at Mkanda and to identify areas of the highest grade which will be the focus of the 2026 drill campaigns. 

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