Fulcrum Metals Advances Cyanide-Free Gold Recovery with Pilot Facility
Fulcrum Metals plc has taken a major step forward in its efforts to recover precious metals from mine waste. The company has secured a site in Mississauga, Ontario, for its standalone pilot facility and signed a Pilot Scale Demonstration Agreement with Extrakt Process Solutions LLC and Test Design Implement Solutions LLC. The agreement focuses on investigating the recovery of precious and critical metals using Extrakt’s cyanide-free technology.
The pilot facility is a key milestone for Fulcrum’s funded pilot facility and initial Teck-Hughes program. Successful pilot testing at Teck-Hughes is a crucial condition for the proposed $20 million gold royalty financing with Chancery Royalty Ltd, which could provide a non-dilutive pathway towards commercial development. Extrakt’s technology has demonstrated promising results, with gold recovery rates of up to 59.4% and leach times as low as three hours during high-level testing on tailings from Fulcrum’s Teck Hughes and Sylvanite projects.
A non-optimised conceptual study at Teck Hughes suggests a pre-tax NPV (7.5% discount) of approximately $33 million, based on 2,000 t/d of tailings processed over a nine-year operation, a 59.4% gold recovery rate, a six-hour leach time, and a gold price of $2,899/oz. Fulcrum’s relationship with Extrakt extends beyond the Teck-Hughes and Sylvanite projects, with exclusive rights to deploy the cyanide-free technology across legacy gold mine waste sites within the Timmins and Kirkland Lake mining districts of Ontario.
The Mississauga premises, comprising approximately 12,526 sq.ft of industrial space, will accommodate the pilot equipment and supporting infrastructure. The six-year lease, commencing on October 1, 2026, includes an option to extend for a further six years. The planned pilot facility will have a capacity of up to 2.4 t/d, processing batches of approximately 600 kg, with fit-out and commissioning targeted by the end of the year.
Ryan Mee, Chief Executive Officer of Fulcrum, highlighted the significance of the multi-project development accelerator, stating, 'This is not a one-project pilot. It is a multi-project development accelerator that moves projects using Extrakt’s technology from laboratory testing towards commercial development decisions without building a separate pilot facility for each project.' Teck-Hughes and Sylvanite are the first projects, with exclusive rights and partner-led opportunities providing the pathway to scale.