Empire Metals Limited has announced the appointment of Narelle Marriott as the Company's Process Development Manager, effective from 11 March 2024. Ms. Marriott, a former BHP metallurgist with over 20 years of experience, will lead a team of metallurgists and engineers to oversee the ongoing development of the Pitfield Titanium Project. Her responsibilities will include managing mineralogical studies, metallurgical test work, and the development of an economic metallurgical processing flowsheet for mineral beneficiation, titanium extraction, and product development for the Project.
Ms. Marriott's appointment is seen as a significant milestone for the Company, as it strengthens the project team's processing and project development capabilities. Shaun Bunn, the Managing Director, expressed his delight at the appointment, emphasizing the importance of building in-house technical expertise and investing in the right talent to accelerate the economic assessment and development of the Pitfield Titanium Project.
In addition to Ms. Marriott's appointment, Empire Metals Limited has secured the services of two senior titanium industry consultants, Dr. Trevor Nicholson and Mr. Eugene Dardengo, who together have over 72 years of experience in the titanium processing and extraction industry. Their expertise is expected to play a crucial role in successfully developing and executing the company's project development plans.
Ms. Marriott's extensive experience includes her previous role as the General Manager - Process Development for Hastings Technology Metals Pty Ltd., where she successfully executed a metallurgical program to assess the beneficiation potential of the ore, upgrading it from 1% TREO to >25% TREO in final flotation concentrate. She also worked on the Kvanefjeld Rare Earth and Uranium Project, managing, designing, and executing a geo-metallurgical testwork program to determine a beneficiation processing technology for the project.
The addition of Ms. Marriott and the two senior titanium industry consultants to Empire Metals Limited's technical team is expected to provide the expertise required to advance the Pitfield Titanium Project. This development comes at a crucial time, as the company recently announced the commencement of resource drilling at Pitfield to delineate high-grade, shallow zones of titanium mineralization and provide key samples for mineralogical and metallurgical characterization.