August 10, 2020 - TheNewswire - Toronto, Canada - BacTech Environmental Corporation today announced that it has agreed to investigate a gold mine tailings site near Medellin, Colombia with MetalTec, LLC. MetalTec, based in Naples, Florida, operates an alluvial mine in Colombia as well as brokering gold produced by small miners.
Ross Orr, President and CEO of BacTech, states: "We were recently contacted by MetalTec to investigate a tailings site near their alluvial mine in Colombia. The stated gold and platinum grades appear to be significant but require an independent third party to verify the results which were presented to us. Prior to assaying, it would be premature to discuss economic implications. The presence of arsenic is, of course, of interest to us as a condition which makes our technology particularly appropriate."
MetalTec will be responsible for hiring an independent third party who will drill a minimum of 2 holes in the tails to recover material for assessment. BacTech will then have the samples assayed for gold, platinum and arsenic as well as produce a mineralogy report. If the results are suitable, we will apply for permits and reprocess the tails."
The tailings, which date back to the 1930's, were generated from an underground mine. Material collected by the independent third party will be sent to an accredited lab for assay and metallurgical test work. The resulting concentrate would then be sold until such time as the material can be shipped to BacTech's proposed bioleach plant to be based in Ponce Enriquez, Ecuador.
As a point of reference, a 100 tpd flotation plant would produce approximately 10-15 tpd of concentrate. The expected capacity of the Ponce Enriquez bioleach plant is 50 tpd of arsenic/gold concentrate.
BacTech continues to seek out opportunities for its technology to be applied to waste cleanup in an economically attractive way to assist in cleaning up potentially dangerous sites.
ABOUT METALTEC, LLC
MetalTec, LLC is a vertically integrated mining company headquartered in Naples, Florida. The Company operates several alluvial mines near Medellin, Colombia and has multiple output contracts across the country.
ABOUT BACTECH
BacTech is promoting the use of its proprietary bioleach processing technology to treat historic arsenopyrite concentrates and tailings produced in the Ponce Enriquez area of Southern Ecuador.
BacTech has agreed to participate with a group looking to reprocess the Arsenic Stockpile in Snow Lake, Manitoba as a technology partner.