Cannindah Resources Achieves 94% Copper Recovery in Mt Cannindah Testwork
Key Takeaways
- NovaCell™ Coarse Particle Flotation testwork at the Cannindah Breccia achieved 94% Cu and 92% Ag recovery at a coarse grind of P80 450µm — substantially coarser than conventional flotation's P80 200–250µm requirement.
- Only 18% mass pull was recorded, meaning 82% of processed material was rejected at the coarse stage, pointing to materially lower downstream processing costs and a smaller plant footprint.
- Conventional flotation testwork confirmed the Cannindah Breccia can produce a saleable copper concentrate grading up to 32.5% Cu, with iron recovery to concentrate reduced to as low as 4.6% using DSP-052 collector.
- Metallurgical results support conservative recovery assumptions of 90% Cu, 65% Au, and 80% Ag for incorporation into the updated Mineral Resource Estimate, targeted for release by end of September 2026.
- The existing MRE baseline being updated stands at 14.5Mt @ 1.09% CuEq, comprising 104.8kt Cu, 197.3koz Au, and 6.4Moz Ag across a 100%-owned project 90km southwest of Gladstone.
Strong recoveries and a leaner processing pathway emerge from Mt Cannindah testwork
Initial NovaCell™ Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) testwork at the Cannindah Breccia has delivered results that could materially reshape how the Mt Cannindah project is developed. Cannindah Resources (ASX: CAE) announced the following key outcomes from the programme:
- 94% Cu and 92% Ag recovery achieved using NovaCell™ CPF at a coarse grind of P80 450µm, substantially coarser than conventional flotation (P80 200–250µm)
- Only 18% mass pull — meaning 82% of processed material was rejected, pointing to materially reduced downstream processing requirements
- Conventional flotation testwork separately confirmed the Cannindah Breccia can produce a saleable copper concentrate with low penalty elements
- Results support conservative recovery assumptions of 90% Cu, 65% Au, and 80% Ag for incorporation into the upcoming updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE)
- Updated Cannindah Breccia MRE remains targeted for release by end of September 2026
- Additional testwork to optimise gold recovery, grind size, and reagent usage is currently being planned
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What is coarse particle flotation, and why does it matter for project economics?
Conventional flotation requires ore to be ground to a very fine particle size before metal minerals can be separated from waste. That fine grinding is energy-intensive, slow, and costly. Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) achieves comparable metal recoveries at a much coarser grind size, reducing the energy and equipment burden substantially.
NovaCell™ is a breakthrough flotation technology capable of handling both coarse and fine particles in a single device. That matters because it means a simpler, more compact processing circuit can potentially replace the multi-stage, energy-heavy flowsheets typical of conventional operations.
For Mt Cannindah specifically, CPF offers a range of potential operational advantages:
- Lower energy consumption: coarser grinding bypasses the intensive power draw needed to reduce ore to traditional fine liberation sizes
- Higher mill throughput: mills can process larger volumes of material per unit time
- Reduced reagent consumption
- Smaller plant footprint
- Improved tailings management: coarser tailings dewater faster, produce more structurally stable storage facilities, enable higher water recycling rates, and reduce environmental risk
- Potential construction aggregate use: coarse reject sand-size material may be repurposed as construction material
For investors, these characteristics translate directly into the potential for lower capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure (opex), a smaller environmental footprint, and stronger social licence — all material considerations for future project development and approvals.
Testwork results in detail
The metallurgical programme, completed by Core Resources Pty Ltd, tested two distinct processing approaches on composite samples drawn from six diamond drill holes.
The Cannindah Breccia composite samples used in this testwork were drawn from high-grade copper-gold drilling conducted across the deposit, providing the metallurgical programme with representative material from the zones most likely to anchor the updated MRE.
NovaCell™ CPF results: At a primary grind of P80 450µm, the NovaCell™ scoping test achieved 94% Cu, 68% Au, and 92% Ag recovery. This is only modestly behind the optimised conventional benchmark (FT-109 rougher concentrate: 97% Cu, 94% Ag) despite the substantially coarser grind. The company notes that recovery performance, not concentrate grade, is the relevant metric at this scoping stage — the NovaCell™ concentrate can be refined through downstream processing to reach target grades.
Conventional flotation results: Switching the cleaner-stage collector to DSP-052 in conjunction with a regrind to P80 20µm was the key lever for achieving saleable copper grade. Under these conditions, iron recovery to concentrate fell from approximately 21% to as low as 4.6%, allowing copper grade to rise to as high as 32.5% Cu. The adopted final conditions (FT-111) balance grade and recovery at 25.0% Cu with 83.7% Cu recovery across two cleaning stages.
A note on gold: Gold results across both testwork streams are variable. This reflects the spotty nature of gold distribution in the composite sample used. Both the NovaCell™ figure (68%) and the FT-109 figure (86%) are subject to the same assay limitation and should not be treated as definitive results. Further testwork specifically targeting gold recovery optimisation is planned.
| Mass or Element Recovery | NovaCell™ Test P80 450µm — Froth Con | NovaCell™ Test P80 450µm — Screen Con | NovaCell™ Test P80 450µm — Combined | Mech Test P80 450µm — Froth Con | Mech Test FT-109 P80 250µm — Froth Con |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mass Pull | 16% | 1% | 18% | 14% | 13% |
| Copper | 83% | 10% | 94% | 82% | 97% |
| Gold | 52% | 16% | 68% | 62% | 86% |
| Silver | 83% | 9% | 92% | 71% | 94% |
Table 1: Mt Cannindah Breccia Recoveries Under Various Process Conditions (Source: Cannindah Resources ASX announcement, 22 September 2026)
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MRE update and the path ahead for Mt Cannindah
The immediate catalyst for investors is the updated Cannindah Breccia MRE, targeted for release by end of September 2026, which will incorporate these metallurgical results.
The baseline being updated is the existing MRE released on 3 July 2024: 14.5Mt @ 1.09% CuEq, comprising 104.8kt Cu, 197.3koz Au, and 6.4Moz Ag across Measured, Indicated, and Inferred categories. That resource sits within a project located 90km southwest of Gladstone in central Queensland, across nine Mining Leases and two EPMs, 100% owned by Cannindah Resources.
Managing Director and CEO Cameron Switzer framed the significance of the testwork results:
Cameron Switzer, Managing Director and CEO
“These are very encouraging initial metallurgical results for the Cannindah Breccia with NovaCell™ coarse particle flotation achieving 94% copper and 92% silver recovery while rejecting 82% of the material… This potentially has significant implications for the future development of Mt Cannindah through higher throughput, lower energy requirements, a reduced plant footprint and improved tailings management.”
With strong initial metallurgical performance now on record across both processing approaches, the upcoming MRE update arrives with a firmer technical foundation than its predecessor. Cannindah has stated its ambition to be at the forefront of Coarse Particle Technology advancement — and these initial results suggest that ambition is being pursued methodically, with the testwork data to back it.
For investors exploring the broader strategic context behind this metallurgical programme, our deep-dive into Mt Cannindah project expansion covers the tenure position, porphyry potential, and the exploration pipeline sitting adjacent to the Cannindah Breccia.
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