Sixth Wave Innovations (SIXW.C) announced that they signed a contract with Rio2 which will see tests continue with Sixth Wave’s patented IXOS purification polymer at Rio2’s Fenix Gold Project in Chile, using Rio2’s nearby Lince Infrastructure facilities.
The partnership builds on an existing relationship, going back to September 2020, when the two companies agreed to trial the IXOS technology to determine whether it can be successfully applied to enhance the extraction of gold from Fenix Gold ore. The IXOS technology uses molecularly imprinted polymers, rather than traditional carbon, for the gold adsorption process.
The testing confirmed that the IXOS mining tech outperformed activated carbon on several key metrics, including gold adsorption efficiency, ease of elution, and overall adsorption kinetics. Overall, Sixth Wave said that the tests “provided sufficient encouragement that the project should proceed to the next phase of test work.”
In the news release from last September, Sixth Wave said the two companies would eventually work towards an agreement to complete an on-site pilot Adsorption/Desorption/Recovery (ADR) plant scaled to operate on a 400t pilot leach pad.
“Sixth Wave continues to be very positive on the project and working relationship with Rio2. Moving to near-site testing with a solid and well focused test plan will validate and extend the laboratory testing already completed and help both companies make defensible, data driven decisions about next steps toward adoption,” commented Dr. Jon Gluckman, President and CEO of Sixth Wave. “We have really been impressed by the Rio2 team and the investment in time and resources that they are making to further this program. We will continue to do our part to deliver a positive return on this investment through our contributions to the cost sharing and delivering tangible benefits to Fenix Gold Project.”
IXOS is a line of extraction polymers formulated for deployment in the gold mining industry for the extraction of gold from cyanide leach solutions. IXOS is designed to be more selective, more efficient, have higher capacity, and offer environmental benefits compared to current processing methods.
SIXW is currently engaged in the “Green Alternatives for Gold Leaching and Recovery” initiative, which they announced back in July 2020. The initiative is being undertaken in partnership with Centre Technologique Des Residus Industriels (CTRI), with the purpose of identifying and improving environmentally-friendly alternative leaching technologies. They also have a testing agreement with Barry-Hollinger Gold Mine (BHGM), which they signed back in May. Under that agreement, they will attempt to extract gold from 200,000 tons of tailings which could contain up to 16,000 ounces of gold.
Rio2 could also benefit from extraction using the IXOS technology.
“Rio2 is always looking to embrace and trial new technology with the objective of bringing enhanced value to our stakeholders through the reduced capex/opex opportunities that innovative technologies may bring. The Fenix Gold Project is currently the largest undeveloped gold heap leach project in the Americas and we look forward to working alongside Sixth Wave during the development phase of the project,” stated Mr. Alex Black, President and CEO of Rio2 Limited.
Following the news, Sixth Wave shares have not changed in price and are currently trading at $0.39.
Full disclosure: Sixth Wave Innovations is not an Equity Guru marketing client, but has been in the past.
