Reduce dilution and micro-fragmentation (spalling/crushing of rock to 0 to 13 mm) -- More efficient & less expensive

Image 2. (above) -- Comparing thermal fragmented mineralized rock to conventional blasting of the mineralized rock.

One of the key benefits of Thermal Fragmentation is that hard quartz rock fractures quickly into small particles, faster than the waste rock surrounding it, allowing high-grade quartz to be extracted with very minimal dilution from surrounding waste rock (something typical conventional blasting method would have lots of). The fragmented mineralized ore is reduced to rocks ranging from 0 to 13 mm in size. This micro-fracturing of the material, eliminates the need for primary and secondary crushing, and improves recoveries. The final result of less dilution and micro-fragementation is more tonnage and higher-grades of desired product for the same dollar that would have otherwise been spent -- increase the yield, and increase the recovery, and the mine will increase its revenue in the end, with the same capacity that it had and the same cost to operate to similar capacity. 

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Markets we see Thermal Fragmentation excelling at:

1) Low tonnage, high-grade, low cost mill feed (incorporate into existing operations or extract left over reserves from closed mines):

Left over uneconomical, technology limited, reserves can be revisited by Nippon Dragon's Thermal Fragmentation technology with very little cost because the infrastructure (e.g. shafts, drifts) has been developed and the money spent. Nippon Dragon can bring in its dragon unit with low cost, hook up to support systems in place, and extract up to 30 m in any direction in 3D. Nippon has demonstrated it can extract 5 to 10 tonnes/hr, one can use such materials to supplement/incorporate into an existing mine operation in a synchronized way.

Liability mining; Nippon can also enter past operating mines with minimal of investment and try to extract some of the left over reserves and pay for the proper closing of the mine.

2) Assist early stage exploration companies with bulk sampling of outcrops:

The Nippon Dragon unit can tackle down from surface, drill down a pilot hole 20 m to 30 m deep and then expand the hole up to 1 m and extract a mineralized zone from the waste and effect a profit. Ideal for early stage exploration companies that want quick cash flow by extracting up to 30 m bulk samples from outcrops, also useful for geological interpretation.

3) Civil Industrial Engineering:

Making large holes in hard rock without explosives is useful for activities such as tunneling and anchoring for foundations.

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Summary of additional observations regarding Thermal Fragmentation technology
 
Based on the results from the latest and ongoing projects Nippon Dragon Resources Inc. believes that its thermal technology could make a significant breakthrough in the mining practice especially, in the early stages of a new project development. Besides the obvious aforementioned economic, safety, and stability benefits, below is a brief summary of additional observations:
 

1. Thermal Fragmentation is a simple process:

Drill 10 or 20 m long and 6” (15.24 cm) or 4” (10.16 cm) wide pilot hole in a mineralized zone, insert the thermal head and use heat to create a 'thermal cushion' to expand hole from ~15 cm to 1 m, recover the crushed material (size 0.0-13mm) using compressed air, and back-fill the hole with waste/tailings leaving the ground undisturbed.

 
2. Time effective:

To start selective recovery of surface mineralized material from outcrops, this method does not require large initial capital investments, expensive engineering studies, robust project infrastructure, time delays with EIA environmental impact assessment and permitting approvals.

  
3. Bulk sampling:

The permits and approvals for bulk sampling programs are received quickly. This technology will allow for quick collection of large scale bulk samples and assays as more representative samples of grade and processing characteristics of ore. Also it could be beneficial with geological interpretations and 3D block modeling filling the gap between exploration drilling results.

 
4. Process sustainability:

This proven process and technology can start ore recovery in exploration phase and it could be used throughout the entire project life cycle as source of funding for advance phases of project development and mine closer.

 
5. Quick delivery:

From the initial order Nippon Dragon can deliver a new piece of equipment and start production in 6-8 weeks (2-4 weeks for manufacturing and 3-4 weeks for transportation and assembly).

 
6. Noteworthy Research and Development:

1. Nippon Dragon Resources is reducing pilot hole diameter from 6” to 4” to improve operating costs.

2. Increasing the depth of material recovery from 20m to 50m  using the air lifting method.

3. The company is further researching the apparent improvement in grade recovery and comminutions costs  due to inclusions and micro-fractures on a microscopic scale (which is created by thermal process).

The real potential and magnitude of this proven technology and method is not fully explored and the above list is just a brief summary on potential benefits that could be worth considering by junior or major mining companies and other industries.

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Nippon's plans to showcase its technology: With minimal investment Nippon Dragon Resources Inc. is looking to turn its Rocmec 1 Gold Project in the in prolific Abitibi region of mining-friendly Quebec into a producing asset and showroom for its technology. The flagship Rocmec 1 Gold property is advanced staged, near-turnkey ready for mining, with 479,100 oz gold in all categories (3 gpt cut-off), >$41M invested to date (5 levels + ramp + shafts).

Long-term clients looking to buy their own equipment and lease the technology would pay an intellectual property (IP) fee to Nippon Dragon Resources. The Company is positioned to charge upwards of ~US$25,000/month per unit in IP fees, a deal for the client whose savings compared to old technology would be many multiples.

Although the plan is to have Rocmec 1 as its own showroom, ideal for training groups and demonstrating for prospective clients, Nippon will likely have several locations available to it globally via clients using the technology on their own mines soon enough. Most of the trials and pilot programs of Thermal Fragmentation technology to date have been performed with non-disclosure agreements in place, the feed back is positive but the Company has been prohibited from discussing details. Nippon Dragon is getting wiser and is stepping up its game exposure-wise, now its technology is being introduced via the Canadian Mining Innovation Counsel in Ottawa, leading to marketing exposure and this is beginning to pull well. With a large and growing rolodex of potential clients currently looking to engage Nippon in the short-term/near-term it is not a matter 'if', but only 'when' a news release of significance comes out that will provide the catalyst that richly rewards shareholders establishing a long position in NIP.V now. 

Nippon Dragon is expanding its assets and developing a fully integrated production line that will connect its thermal technology with downstream process generating high yield concentrate in closed recoverable production cycle.  The end goal is to minimize landscape disturbance and return tailings material back to the ground after mineralized material is extracted, leaving the virgin ground unchanged with no trace of mining activities. Additionally, with its partners from mining and civil industry Nippon is increasing its research and development efforts to further diversified, improve and enhance its technology applications and make them more cost efficient with the final goal of turning the technology into a fully automated process.  

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Nippon Dragon Resources Inc. is currently contract mining in Arizona using its own thermal fragmentation equipment and 100%-owned 75 TPD portable mill (Note: one Thermal Fragmentation dragon unit has the capacity of ~100TPD and operates with such surgical precision that it can often reduce dilution by up to 5 times (compared to traditional blasting technology), making the 75TPD mill the equivalent of 375TPD). Below are images of the Thermal Fragmentation equipment and mill in operation in Arizona, along with expanded insight on the technology.

Arizona picture 1. (above) Thermal Fragmentation operation in Arizona -- Seen is the equipment layout and setup for surface mining including generator (white), vacuum (green), air compressor (blue), the big blue box is a collector of fragmented material, Dragon thermal unit (red), the white smoke is vapour that is coming at the end of the exhaust. The vapour is visible due to high temperature and moisture difference (thermal burning vs. outside temperature).

Arizona picture 2. (above) -- Presented from another angle. Seen on the highest hill top is a white band/strip, this is the quartz carbonate vein that Nippon is trying to extract from gilla conglomerate-waste rock. In the middle at the upper side of the picture is the next site where the ground is already prepared by bulldozers and to the right of that at the top of the highest hill is a virgin ground with the white band, this is the third site/target.

Arizona picture 3 (above) -- Seen in this image are two ore stockpiles; the bigger one is generated from cutting during the 6” pilot hole drilling program (total of 500 holes) and small pile is thermal stockpile. Please note this picture was taken after Nippon recovered only a few holes, since then the Company has recovered material from more than 60 holes and the stockpile is much larger. Notice the difference in cuttings color;  Nippon was able to selectively target only mineralized (white) material along the hole depth and avoid dilution (yellow) material generating low tone/high-grade/low-cost mill feed material.

Nippon's 100%-owned portable 75TPD mill:

3 pictures of mill (above) -- Seen above is NIP.V's fully developed portable plant layout/setup that is built to yield  94% gold recovery in clean process, also seen is the loading packet/bean, conveyor belts, SAG mill, flotation cells, and water tanks.

In Arizona, Nippon Dragon Resources Inc. is currently testing and expanding its technology application from hard rock to both hard and soft rock applications. On surface NIP.V is following outcrops and narrow gold veins as narrow as 6 inch wide imbedded in sedimentary rock. Along the strike Nippon has drilled pilot holes with 2-3 feet spacings, 10m deep and 6 inch wide at an angle of 30 degrees. Geologists collected the geological samples (assays) from cuttings and sent the remaining material to the mill stockpile.

At the second stage, Nippon used its Thermal Fragmentation mining process to fragment and expand the holes with 70 cm long and 7.62 cm wide thermal lens. After initial ground testing, Nippon uses an 8 minute recipe, per run, per location along the hole expanding first and third hole (in row along the strike) from 6 to 12-15 inches and second hole in middle using 15 minutes recipe to recover any leftover mineralized material between the first and third holes. During the fragmentation process, up to 20% of the material by volume was collected. The following day Nippon vacuumed and collected the leftover fragmented material from the holes. During the both recovery steps the fragmented material is collected and stored in a large size box and afterwards shipped to the mill stockpile.

The expansions of the hole were limited (in footwall and hanging wall direction) by host rock properties because thermal technology is not design to work in soft rock.  At the best, in 6 inch wide mineralized zones Nippon managed to recover up to 1 tonne of clean material per hole. So far from 500 piloted and 50 fragmented holes Nippon collected around 300 tonnes of mineralized material that was stockpiled at the mill. When the processing of the mineralized material is completed, the waste material will be used to fill-in the holes in the ground.

Furthermore, Nippon refurbished and upgraded its portable SAG Mill to generate 94% material recovery to produced high grade concentrate which will be sent as a batch sample to refineries for final product recovery. This setup allows Nippon to have full process coverage (extraction to final product recovery) all in one place. All infrastructures can be easily relocated to another location. The process / tailings material is clean and it will be return to ground – no tailings facilities required. 

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