RE: 2 months--GarysevenDid you read this one on the 18th of March?
Nithi Mountain Metallurgical Program
Last Update: 3/18/2008 1:20:06 PM
CALGARY, Mar 18, 2008 (Canada NewsWire via COMTEX) -- Trading Symbol: LWC
Leeward Capital Corp. is pleased to report the results from preliminary metallurgical test work for the Gamma Zone within the Nithi Mountain molybdenum project. The testing was conducted by G&T Metallurgical Services Ltd (GTMS) of Kamloops, B.C. GTMS is a well know independent laboratory and testing facility where porphyry deposit type test work makes up a significant portion of it's business and so is well qualified to complete Leeward's metallurgical work. Management of Leeward believes that completion of this testing has allowed the company to successfully pass another milestone on its way to developing an economic resource on the Nithi Mountain property in the prolific Endako molybdenum camp.
The Gamma Zone currently has a 43-101 resource of 84,315,900 tonnes of 0.028% Mo and is only one of five zones being actively explored by Leeward in 2008.
Leeward supplied 397 kilograms of material sourced from stored diamond drill core laboratory rejects. Three separate composite samples assaying 0.032, 0.043, and 0.058 % Mo were tested in the program. The bulk of the preliminary testing was carried out on the medium grade composite and the best conditions from these tests applied to the low and high grade composites. The composites were selected from a representative range of locations within the deposit. GTMS was requested to complete a Preliminary Metallurgical Assessment with the goal of identifying the general characteristics of the mineralized zone and establishing the amenability of the material for separation of the contained molybdenite. The bench-scale metallurgical tests employed typical chemical conditions used in porphyry molybdenum recovery circuits at natural pH. Fuel oil was used as the molybdenite collector. Given the limited number of the tests the chemical agents were not optimized.
GTMS reports that at "a primary grind of 150(micro)m K80 about 58% of molybdenite in the medium grade composite was liberated". They report that "this level of molybdenite liberation is adequate to ensure good recovery of molybdenite in the rougher circuit". They go on to report that "open circuit rougher and cleaner tests revealed that about 95 percent of the molybdenum can be recovered to the rougher concentrate..... Open circuit cleaning tests produced molybdenum recoveries of between 83 and 90 percent at final concentrate grades ranging between 46 to 53 percent molybdenum. Duplicate locked cycle tests ... produced average molybdenum recoveries of about 94% at molybdenum grades of about 40 percent in the final concentrate". A recommendation was made by GTMS to complete larger scale testing in a pilot plant so that larger quantities of final concentrate are produced. The lower grade of molybdenum in the final concentrate in the locked cycle tests may be partially related to the small weight of concentrate produced at the bench scale. The proposed larger scale process will identify whether or not this was an issue.
The testing also quantified the amount of other sulphide mineral species within the tested material. Only pyrite was identified in addition to molybdenite and the former species is present in very small quantities of 0.33%. This matches and confirms visual estimations completed by the company's geologists in the field.
"With these positive test results we feel that we have taken a significant step closer to developing a viable mineral resource" said Jim Davis, President of Leeward. "Even though the testing is preliminary in nature it gives the company confidence that the Gamma deposit represents a mineral resource that is likely to be amenable to low cost processing". The testing indicates that a high recovery of molybdenum can be accomplished at a coarse grind utilizing uncomplicated processing and relatively inexpensive reagent materials. In addition the Gamma Zone has a low content of other mineral species that could potentially impact or lower molybdenite flotation and thus molybdenum recovery. Management foresees that the completion of additional testing will allow the determination of optimal chemical conditions with a reasonable expectation that recoveries can be increased by a process tailored to Gamma Zone type ore. Considering that this resource is present at surface and is of large tonnage we feel that the Gamma deposit represents a significant long term mining opportunity.
Leeward will follow the recommendation of G&T Metallurgical Services to acquire additional sample material to run larger and more comprehensive tests and is currently evaluating the advantages of large diameter core drilling over surface pit sampling to acquire a suitable sample size in the range of  2-3 tonnes. It is expected that this work could be completed on the Gamma Zone in 2008.
James W. Davis MSc, PGeol, has acted as the QP (qualified person) for the technical content of this release