News

Australian company PacMag Metals considers possibility of germanium extraction from lignite of the Church deposit in western North Dakota (Sentinel project), where the main products are uranium and molybdenum. Exploration and uranium mining in southwestern North Dakota in the 1960s determined that trace metals, including uranium and molybdenum, were concentrated in the upper portions of lignite beds. Exploration by PacMag Metals has confirmed the concentration of these metals in the top few feet of shallow lignites. The company has reported finding uranium oxide concentrations up to 0.43% and molybdenum oxide up to 0.19% in the upper parts of coals that are less than 11 feet below the surface. Germanium is not one of the elements in a typical analytical suite. However, PacMag Metals tested for germanium knowing that both the USGS and the ND Geological Survey had found it in North Dakota lignites. In their October 14, 2008 press release, PacMag Metals reported that germanium dioxide concentrations of lignites they had sampled ranged from 1 to 271 ppm. Results from a late-2008 drilling and sampling program should give the company a much better understanding for germanium variability within the lignites in the potential mine area. If the germanium concentrations are sufficiently high across the property and the company eventually proceeds to the mining phase, they will have to determine how to environmentally and economically remove uranium, molybdenum, and germanium from lignites at this site.