Hello Everyone, I wanted to let you know why we don’t have final numbers from the 007 bulk sample yet. I expected that by the end of March we would have enough data to release a preliminary estimate, but we are not there quite yet.
Let me explain:
The mill is set up to produce two types of concentrates. The first method uses gravity separation (basically a centrifuge) to concentrate heavy particles (ie. gold and other metallics).
The second method is flotation, which causes very small metallic particles in a slurry with water to “float” to the surface where they are collected. Some of the water is removed and then the concentrate is filtered to produce a wet “cake”.
Gravity concentrates are typically very high grade and small quantity. The process is very selective because the equipment is only designed to separate 1 to 2 tonnes of concentrates per day of milling. Gravity concentrates initially have high moisture, they need to dry out some before they can be weighed and sampled, which we have now done.
Flotation concentrates are lower grade and much higher quantity. One of the main reasons we don’t have a firm result from the bulk sample yet is that we don’t have an accurate weight or assay for the flotation concentrate. The only method available to accurately weigh the product is to load it into trucks and put them on a scale (ie when we sell it). Sure, we have a ballpark number, but that’s not even close to good enough for a reportable figure.
So we have a good handle on the gold in gravity concentrates. We also have a good handle on the grade in the tailing (the gold that was lost in the process), and this indicated the mill was highly efficient at separating the gold in the bulk sample (great news).
More good news, we are close to shipping the gravity concentrates to the end-buyer, and once a few more assay results are in, we expect to do the same with the flotation concentrates. This will enable us to properly weigh and sample the flotation concentrates. It’s just taken us a little longer than expected to get to this point.
The concentrates we produced are nearly free of penalty elements (such as arsenic and bismuth), which makes them marketable anywhere in North America, Europe and Asia.
Planning is already occurring for the next phase of bulk sampling this summer.
I hope that helps everyone understand where we are.
All the best,
Stefan Spears