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Accelerate hits the gas at

Woodie Woodie North

esurgent prices and a breakthrough in Braeside prospects,
Rprocessing technology have breathed and the entire 35km
new life into Western Australia’s manga- of prospective strike
nese sector but Accelerate Resources Ltd on the land package.
is banking on the more traditional attributes She said the com-
of its portfolio. bination of location
For more than three decades, WA’s man- and geology meant
ganese sector was largely defined by the Woodie Woodie
world-class Woodie Woodie mine in the North could be ame-
Pilbara until Element 25 Ltd unveiled a new nable to early start-up
ore-sorting flowsheet that has allowed it to developments.
upgrade lower grade ore from its Butcher- “It is along the
bird project into a saleable product. same structure as
The breakthrough has sparked renewed Woodie Woodie and
interest in the steel additive but Acceler- early metallurgical
ate – which controls the Woodie Woodie work has shown it is
North and Braeside projects in the Pilbara very easy to benefici-
– boasts fundamental advantages which ate with the added op- Yaxi Zhan
managing director Yaxi Zhan believes will portunity for DSO grades,” Zhan said. “Its
propel the company towards early develop- location also means it is only 350km from
ment. Port Hedland, versus 600km or more for planned a follow-up drilling programme for
“Element 25 has certainly changed the the other projects held by juniors, and is just this month to define a maiden resource and
concept of the manganese industry in WA 10km from the gas pipeline.” test further new targets.
by showing it is possible to mine and pro- Most of the historical work at Woodie “We plan to have a JORC-compliant re-
cess medium-grade ore using modern ben- Woodie North was focused on two pros- source by the end of 2022, expand on what
eficiation technology,” Zhan told Paydirt. “It pects; Barramine and Braeside West. we know about the newly identified high-
has started a new wave of manganese ex- Barramine, at the north-eastern end of priority areas and find new areas with po-
ploration but at Accelerate, we believe there the mineralised corridor, was subject to tential for early success,” Zhan said.
is potential to develop along similar lines to more than 27,000m of drilling between If those plans are successful, Acceler-
Woodie Woodie.” 2004 and 2012, returning grades of up to ate could launch a scoping study before
Zhan’s confidence stems from the loca- 46.4% manganese from near-surface posi- the end of the year. Any study would likely
tion of Woodie Woodie North, just 50km tions. include early and longer-term development
from the iconic Woodie Woodie mine. The Accelerate is intent on repeating such visions.
ground was tested several times during pre- grades with its own 4,000m drilling pro- “Our best option may be to chase high
vious manganese booms, but Accelerate is gramme, launched in July. By August, the grades and focus on a DSO operation to
the first to consolidate the Barramine and company was reporting visual indications begin with,” Zhan said. “That could gener-
of near-surface man- ate cashflow from which we can then fund
ganese mineralisation the more complex dense media separation
over a 1.3km strike. plant. We think it will take around two or
Zhan said the pro- three years to define a project there.”
gramme was already That time will also include extensive met-
exceeding expecta- allurgical work, with Zhan confirming Accel-
tions. erate would investigate the Woodie Woodie
“It is typical near- North ore’s suitability to battery grade mate-
surface, high-grade rial.
Woodie Woodie-style While steel is still the predominant end
mineralisation,” she destination for manganese – currently ac-
said. counting for 90% of demand – the EV bat-
At Braeside West, tery market is emerging as a key secondary
Accelerate’s drilling is sector with new demand in part responsi-
following up on several ble for positive prices shifts in the last two
previously undrilled tar- years.
get areas. Zhan said Accelerate would aim to pro-
The company was duce a high-quality product.
still awaiting assay “We’ll go for higher grade premiums, ore
Accelerate’s Woodie Woodie North project is closer to port than results at the time of that has low impurities,” she said.
most other WA manganese projects print but has already – Dominic Piper

Page 16 OCTOBeR 2022 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT