OBJECTIVE
The primary objective of the Metallurgical Testwork was to ascertain the practicability of recovering the metallic minerals and metal elements, mainly gold, from the estimated inferred resource zones and varied geologic realms of San Roque deposit and report the finding in the Metallurgical Report.
BACKGROUND
SGS has an 80-year history of metallurgical testing in
OVERSIGHT
The Company contracted Tetra Tech to independently select the samples for the Metallurgical Testwork as well as to oversee, guide and provide ongoing advice for and review of the Metallurgical Testwork results.
SAMPLES TESTED
The Company provided SGS with 191 kilograms of San Roque drill core samples for the Metallurgical Testwork. This material consisted of 61 core splits of original assay sample run intervals that represent about 58 meters of quartered HQ size drill cores and were obtained from 19 widely spaced drill holes. These samples were independently selected by a Tetra Tech geologist in such a way so as to fairly represent the mineralization in all four separate estimated Inferred Mineral Resource zones as defined in the Property's NI 43-101 report as well as the down hole oxide, transition oxide to sulfide, and sulfide (unoxidized) segments of each of those horizons as well as the varied rock types hosting mineralization. SGS appropriately blended the core samples into 13 composite samples and used those as feed for individual tests aimed at characterizing the extractive metallurgy of each of the oxide, translon and sulfide horizons. The intent of this geometallurgical program is to ultimately create a geologically based predictive modeling for the estimated Inferred Mineral Resource zones of the Property.
The layout of the four zones of mineralization as presented in the NI 43-101 report is displayed in the Company's
CONCLUSIONS
The Property accommodates a porphyry-scale low-sulphidation epithermal polymetallic mineral deposit in Jurassic age volcanics that is endowed primarily with gold and sulfides of lead, zinc and to a greatly lesser extent copper. The sulfide minerals are oxidized to an average depth of 38 meters which includes a 5 to 8 meter transition interval of partially oxidized sulfides.
Bottle roll cyanidation (leach retention time of 72 hours) of -10 mesh crushed oxidized material from two (Zone Griselda -
Some of the tested samples show that some of the gold may occur as fine-grained nugget gold.
Gravity concentration of all Metallurgical Testwork samples (oxide, transition and sulfide horizons from all four resource zones) produced an average concentrate grade of 107 g/t Au with 356 g/t Ag at average recoveries of 18.9% for the gold and 4.9% of the silver. Overall gold and silver recovery by combining their respective gravity recoveries with gravity tailing bottle roll cyanidation (at 80% passing 75 microns for a leach retention time of 48 hours) averages 88.2% for gold and 63.9% for silver.
Rougher flotation trial runs on all 13 of the metallurgical samples determined that the sulfides and their contained gold generally responded well to recovery by conventional flotation technology. It was, however, also established that the targeted base metals in the oxide horizon to not respond well to the flotation recovery. That finding effectively reduces the Property's NI 43-101 estimated inferred resource for contained lead and zinc by approximately 15% and 10% respectively.
The open circuit cleaner froth flotation runs produced lead concentrates from Metallurgical Testwork samples representing the sulfide horizons of Zone Griselda -
More advanced metallurgical testing incorporating locked cycle flotation circuits is projected to produce salable lead concentrate (>55% Pb) and zinc concentrate (>45% Zn). The precious metals along with copper are expected to chiefly report to the lead concentrate.
Multi-element assay on the open circuit cleaner flotation concentrates shows that impurities in the concentrates are expected to be lower than the penalty thresholds set by most smelters.
Three samples were subjected to standard Bond ball mill grindability tests. Two (Del Indio Oxide and Del Indio Sulfide) were classified as being moderately hard (due to silicification alteration), with an average ball mill work index of 16.4 kWh/tonne and one (Zone 34 Sulfide) was found to be very hard. However, the very hard sample represents an estimated inferred resource zone of the deposit comprising only 2% of the overall estimated inferred sulfide resource tonnage of the Property. Notably, the potential mine site is close to high tension 500 KVA power lines of the
Three samples, including cyanidation leach residues and flotation tailings, were evaluated for acid generation potentials. All were found to be in the range for potentially generating acid drainage that would require neutralization. This is a normal characteristic of nearly all sulfide mineral deposits.
Mineralogical analyses (QEMSCAN DATA) identified the vanadium hydroxide mineral Mottramite in the oxidized samples, which has also recently been corroborated by other petrographic studies. It is probable that most of the lead and zinc values in the oxidized portions of the four estimated inferred resource zones are tied up in the Mottramite which is not amenable to cyanide leaching or conventional mill flotation recoveries. Vanadium is a valuable element and would reside in the spent leach residues after precious metal extraction. Management thinks that could become a valuable resource for the future as current industry metallurgical research shows promise for the economic processing recovery of vanadium hydroxides.
Additionally, metallurgist Dr.
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Email:info@iconicgold.com
Website: www.iconicgold.com
Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management regarding the Company and the Property. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, statements regarding: (i) the results, interpretations and expectations therefrom from the Company's Metallurgical Testwork; (ii) any potential mineral value amounts or estimates as a resulting of the Metallurgical Testwork or their recovery; (iii) probable recovery methods to obtain any mineral deposits, in part or as a whole, located on the Property; (iv) the expectations of management with respect to the impurities in mineral concentrates locate on the Property; and (v) other general statements made by the Company regarding the intended exploration activities to be undertaken on the Property. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors include the inability of the Company to execute its business plans and carry out planned future activities as presently contemplated, including those specific to its early-stage metallurgical test program currently being conducted on San Roque and, more specifically, its design, timeline, and anticipated findings. The novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, and ongoing dispute between the sovereign state of
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