Post by
lifegoeson on May 21, 2023 12:15pm
If surface assays are this good, they will be better below.
I was very encouraged to read Tocvan's press release this week. If surface assays are this good, they will be better below according to previous drilling data. The fines are clearly going to play an important role going forward economically.
From Press Release...
"Sampling of duplicate material collected at regular intervals during the crushing/screening process from the bulk sample has returned consistent gold and silver values. In total, 148 samples were collected averaging 1.87 grams per tonne Au and 13 g/t Ag. The first batch of 32 samples (111 samples pending), collected from the fine fraction of screened material not included in the heap leach pile, are showing slightly higher grades of gold and silver, averaging 2.02 g/t Au and 15.6 g/t Ag. The fine fraction along with additional bulk sample material will be used in testing gravity recovery methods. The samples total 910.7 kilograms of crush reject material from the bulk sample collected for heap leach testing."
This is a large sample size and better represents the average value of gold collected at the surface during trenching for the bulk sample. Generally, companies at the "Greenfield Stage" collect samples visually to get a quick understanding of the surface assays, thus tend to be skewed and not representative of true assay values of the broader area. Tocvan is progressing with later stage large scale testing, an indication that they are more advanced at the "Development Stage".
"The heap leach process is currently under way for the bulk sample. Over 800 tonnes of bulk sample material have been prepared for heap leach processing, and an additional 350 tonnes of crushed material and 250 tonnes of raw bulk sample are available for gravity recovery and later agitated leach testing as recommended by an independent report provided by LTM."
Quote from Brodie Sutheraland, CEO.... "Pilar continues to surprise with excellent gold and silver values, the results are clearly indicating the average grade of material making up the bulk sample are well above our expectations for gold and silver. To see this represented in the data gives us added confidence that Pilar can be advanced towards production, especially with these impressive grades. We eagerly await the results from heap leaching and further evaluation of gravity recovery methods."
Summary of results from the diagnostics leach study completed by LTM were very impressive, total recovery by gravity and agitated cyanide leach ranged from 95% to 99%. This indicates that gold at Pilar can be easily extracted. The next step is to see how much gold comes from the 800 tonne bulk sample which should be completed later in June or July.
These studies will be used to determine the correct optimization of extraction methodologies that will be used to ensure the maximum concentration of gold and silver can be extracted.
This further quote provides a good overview of why Pilar is positioned to become a near term producer.
The Pilar gold-silver property has recently returned some of the region's best drill results. Coupled with encouraging gold and silver recovery results from metallurgical test work, Pilar is primed to be a potential near-term producer. Pilar is interpreted as a structurally controlled, low-sulphidation epithermal system hosted in andesite rocks. Three primary zones of mineralization have been identified in the northwest part of the property from historic surface work and drilling and are referred to as the Main zone, North Hill and 4-T. The Main zone and 4-T trends are open to the southeast and new parallel zones have been recently discovered. Structural features and zones of mineralization within the structures follow an overall northwest-southeast trend of mineralization. Mineralization extends along a 1.2-kilometre trend; only half of that trend has been drill tested so far. To date, over 23,000 m of drilling have been completed
The next steps are to get the drills turning at both Pilar and El Picacho.