Positive Test Results at the La Preciosa Project
VANCOUVER, BC - Orko Silver Corp. and Pan American Silver Corp. reported that phase one metallurgical testing conducted on representative samples of the different veins at the La Preciosa joint venture project in Durango, Mexico have yielded excellent results.
Pan American has completed a first phase detailed metallurgical program, which included: work index tests, abrasion tests, mineralogical studies, gravity tests, floatation tests and cyanide leach tests. The program was a follow-up to the preliminary testing conducted in 2008 by Orko. Additional flotation studies are still underway.
Simple cyanide leaching yielded average silver recoveries of 91%, although the use of selective oxidants could further enhance these results. In addition, Pan American has been successful in reducing cyanide consumption to 1.6 kg/t, which is materially lower than the results from the metallurgical work previously completed by Orko. Lastly, the current test work has shown that with the use of oxidants, the leach cycle times can be reduced to 48 hours with minimal impact on ultimate silver recovery.
In addition to continuing delineation and exploration drilling, as well as doing additional metallurgical testing, the project is being actively advanced on a number of other critical path items. Hydrogeological services have been contracted to begin determining appropriate water sources and Pan American has been in active dialogues with the local communities and land owners in the project's immediate vicinity who would be affected by La Preciosa's development.
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