Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 1, 2022) - Steppe Gold Limited (TSX: STGO)(OTCQX: STPGF) (FSE: 2J9) ("Steppe Gold" or the "Company") is extremely pleased to announce that it has received a new shipment of key reagents and has now resumed full production.
Throughout 2021, Steppe Gold faced significant reagent supply issues related to COVID lockdowns and border closures, notably with China. Having explored numerous supply alternatives, the Company has now secured new supplies and has recommenced heap leach ore processing.
As noted in prior news releases, the Company has continued full scale mining, crushing, and stacking operations at the ATO Gold Mine throughout 2021 and is very pleased to report a strong build-up of inventories on the leach pad, ROM pad and blast ores on the pit floor.
As of March 1, Steppe Gold has a total of over 2.45m tonnes of ore stacked on the leach and ROM pads.
On the leach pad there is currently a total of 795,461t at 1.90 g/t Gold that is unleached. A further 451,580t at 1.15g/t Gold is on the ROM pad.
The Company also has 569,604t at 2.09g/t Gold of blasted and unmined ore on the pit floors of the ATO1 and ATO4 open cuts which will now be carted to the ROM and Leach Pad.
At 70% estimated recovery this derives a total of 81,842 ounces of recoverable gold, or approximately $147M at $1,800 per ounce from the ROM and unleached areas.
- Blasted in Pit Ore: 569,604 tonnes, equating to 26,815 Recoverable Gold Ounces for US$48M
- ROM Ore: 451,580 tonnes, equating to 11,689 Recoverable Gold Ounces for US$21M
- Leach Pad - Unleached Ore: 795,461 tonnes, equating to 34,080 Recoverable Gold Ounces for US$61M
With an estimated recovery rate of 70% the leached sections are also estimated to yield a further 9,258 ounces for an additional US$17M.
Steppe has produced 45,655 ounces for the project to date resulting in a recovery rate of 58%.
The Company continues crushing and stacking operations and will soon recommence mining with operations in all active pits. The Company plans to produce over 100,000 ounces of gold from the oxide zones in 2022 and 2023.
President and CEO of Steppe Gold, Bataa Tumur-Ochir commented, "Despite the unprecedented and unexpected challenges with reagent supply in 2021, the Company continued its mining, crushing and stacking operations throughout 2021. We are very pleased to be back in production and to be able to use our significant inventory with over 81,842 ounces of estimated recoverable gold available to be leached, and a strong inventory of high-grade oxide ores in the active pits. We want to thank our partners and shareholders for their support during the challenging year. We believe 2022 will be the year of rapid growth and expansion with full production and further financing updates and development progress on the Phase 2 Expansion project."
Steppe Gold Limited
Steppe Gold is Mongolia's premier precious metals company.
For Further information, please contact:
Bataa Tumur-Ochir, CEO and President
Shangri-La office, Suite 1201, Olympic Street
19A, Sukhbaatar District 1,
Ulaanbaatar 14241, Mongolia
Tel: +976 7732 1914
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
The above contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials relevant to the mining industry, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release include, among other things, statements regarding the trading of the Common Shares and business, economic, and political conditions in Mongolia. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
The Toronto Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release
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