MC Tailings
The MC tailings were created by the mining of primary clays from 1960 to 1974. The operator at that time was focused on the kaolin component from the primary clays and wasted the potassium feldspar and quartz fraction to the tails. i-minerals recognized the tailings represented and excellent source of K-spar and quartz in the immediate vicinity of the proposed mill site. A bulk sample of the MC tailings has been processed to yield a high quality K-spar product that has very low iron and other trace elements. Fire testing of the MC Feldspar in a comparison with a currently available K-spar product and a nepheline syenite product resulted in the MC K-feldspar button being whiter button than the button from the currently available K-feldpsar and it did not have the speckles caused by iron content (see photo in photo gallery). When compared against a nepheline syenite button, the tester, Wendt Pottery of Lewiston Idaho stated "Visually the MC K-feldspar is as clean and white as the Nepheline Syenite, fully fused but more viscous so that it would offer a stiffer , more resistant glass for the production of porcelain."Based on a series of trenches and auger drill holes a resource of 408,000 tons of tailings containing approximately 20% feldspar and 45% quartz has been identified. The K-spar and the quartz can be readily recovered from the mill to be built to process the Kelly's Basin ores allowing i-minerals to offer both a high quality mixed feldspar product from the Kelly's Basin ores and a high quality K-spar product from the MC tailings.
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