Sulfide Heap Leach Feasibility Study Progressing Well At Hycroft Mine

 

DENVER, CO - Hycroft Mining Corporation reported on development activities related to its wholly owned Hycroft Mine located near Winnemucca, Nevada. The successful operation of the Mill Demonstration Plant for transition and sulfide material has substantiated the milling process and resulted in improved mine economics. Encouraging results of initial sulfide heap leach testing, leads Company to commence feasibility study with M3 Engineering and Technology (M3) - expected completion by mid-2018, and process could provide a low-capital, low-risk alternative to or supplement a mill.

The Company has completed positive feasibility studies focused on a mill processing plant for the large transition and sulfide, gold and silver resource at Hycroft Mine. Moreover, recently, the Company successfully operated a 10-ton-per-day mill demonstration plant to measure the effectiveness of the mill process in a continuous operating environment. The results of the demonstration plant not only substantiate the process and flow sheet, but also, in the revised feasibility study, establish improved operating parameters and overall economics.

The Company is currently focused on proving the viability of a heap leach oxidation process for the transition and sulfide material. In early 2016, using knowledge gained through sulfide metallurgical testing, the Company began testing the effectiveness of a sulfide heap leach oxidation process with an initial column and bottle roll test program. As a result of the program's encouraging results, the Company initiated two 5,000 ton test heap leach pads on the two main ore domains, Central and Brimstone, which also yielded successful initial results. Based on these promising results, the Company commenced a new feasibility study with M3 for the sulfide heap leach oxidation process, which is expected to be completed by mid-2018. The sulfide heap leach process is expected to present a low-capital, low-risk option that the Company believes could be operational relatively quickly, with permits already in place to start this project.