Transatlantic Mining produces concentrate at U.S. Grant
2016-08-05 02:15 ET - News Release
Mr. Rob Tindall reports
TRANSATLANTIC MINING ANNOUNCES FIRST GOLD/SILVER CONCENTRATE AND COMMISSIONING OF MILL AT THE US GRANT GOLD/SILVER MINE
Transatlantic Mining Corp. has provided an update on the U.S. Grant gold/silver mine and mill in Montana (United States of America). As per the press release dated Jan. 22, 2016, Transatlantic Mining is operating under an exclusive lease/purchase option agreement over a 16-month period ending in May, 2017.
Commissioning of the crusher and mill is well under way, on a limited-day-shift basis. In July, Transatlantic Mining produced its first gold/silver concentrate. While continuing improvements are being made, lower-grade mine material is being run through the mill processing facility. Optimization of the flotation circuit to realize maximum efficiency is in progress. This will serve as a comparison with previous metallurgical testwork performed to date, prior to mining and milling higher-grade material.
Two tons of lower-grade concentrate have been sent to a commercial toll-leaching facility in neighbouring Idaho to produce a dore product. {Note: A dore bar is a semi-pure alloy of gold and silver usually created at a mine site and sent to a refinery for further purification.} The tonnage sent to Idaho will lead to a leaching trial and performance report. This analysis will provide estimated commercial cost metrics for subsequent processing of higher-grade concentrates.
Training of mill operators continues. The company's understanding is improving with each production run. Results from this process, along with access to higher grades from 3 level, and an improvement in recoveries, will be reported after receipt of the full analysis from the toll-leaching facility.
Management plans to increase throughput through the extraction of higher-grade material after fully commissioning the mill processing facility and bringing the mine into 24-hour operation.
With respect to activities at U.S. Grant, vice-president, operations, North America, Ron Krusemark, commented: "From observations of key operating metrics, and initial throughput at the mill, we are excited by the progress to date. Given that we will be moving into higher-grade ore zones soon, this bodes well for the project."