Positive Metallurgical Results At The Baner Project

 

TORONTO - Idaho Champion Gold Mines Canada Inc. reported that metallurgical work at the Company’s Baner Project returned favorable scoping level leach test results of 87.1% Au recovery at 10 mesh.  

Highlights of the metallurgical testing results are as follows: Gold readily leached from the sample. Gold extractions ranged from 87.1% to 93.2% with higher extractions coming from the finer ground material. The majority of gold was extracted in the first 24 hours with slower kinetics observed with the 10 mesh leach test; Little silver was extracted from the sample. Silver extractions ranged from 19.7% to 30.5%, which appeared to be independent of grind size. Cyanide consumptions ranged from 0.19 kg/mt to 1.45 kg/mt, with the higher consumption coming from the finer ground material. Lime consumptions ranged from 3.4 kg/mt to 4.53 kg/mt. Head analyses indicate that the composite sample contains approximately 1.0 g/mt Au and 2 g/mt Ag. There is virtually no organic carbon or sulfides present in the sample. The gold present in the composite sample is free milling with extractions over 87% even at a coarse particle size of 10 mesh. A maximum gold extraction of 93% was achieved at 100 mesh and 200 mesh grinds, but with significantly higher cyanide consumption than observed at the 10 mesh particle size.

Jonathan Buick, Champion’s President and CEO, said, “The favorable leach test result compares to similar projects in North America and adds further positive understanding to Idaho’s newest gold discovery. We will continue with additional leaching test work to characterize the deposit. We will look at static leach tests with the coarse material to determine if heap leaching would be a reasonable processing option.”

The Baner Project is located within the Orogrande shear zone (OSZ), a 20-kilometer-long and up to 1 kilometer wide regional shear zone located in Central Idaho.  The OSZ resembles a series of grabens composed of metamorphosed Proterozoic belt sedimentary rocks, Cretaceous Idaho batholith intruded by Tertiary rhyolites and dacitic dikes.  The BC claim block covers a series of parallel shear zones on the eastern margin of the OSZ. Hydrothermal alteration is spatially associated with the OSZ and consists of silicification, serialization, and chloritization. Mineralization is hosted by three types of broadly defined deposit types; Tertiary epithermal deposits, Cretaceous intrusive related gold systems and orogenic shear zone deposits hosted within the batholith. Mineralization includes disseminated low-grade precious metal mineralization in associated stockwork veins, hydraulic breccias and extensive widespread alteration; high-grade gold associated with discreet structurally controlled quartz veins and silicified zones.