7 July 2015
Xtract Resources Plc
("Xtract" or "the Company")
Improved Recoveries in excess of 90% in the sulphides at
Fair Bride open pit gold deposit impact positively on cash costs
and could lead to improved revenue
Xtract Resources Plc (AIM:XTR) announced on 29 June 2015 that it had agreed to acquire 100% of the Fair Bride gold project from Auroch Minerals NL ('Auroch') that is 18 months from production and six months from the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study ('BFS'). Pursuant to the acquisition agreement, Xtract is responsible for the management and supervision of all operations including the management of the Mining Concession between signing and completion (expected to be within two months).
At the time of the announcement on 29 June 2015, it was reported that recoveries of greater than 80% in the sulphide ore had been achieved from test work to date but that further optimization work was underway. The results from this optimization work commissioned by the Auroch team has been received and the following is highlighted:
· 737 kg of diamond drill core from the Fair Bride sulphide zones was shipped to Nagrom laboratories in Perth, Western Australia in May 2015
· The objective was to confirm and expand on the earlier flotation and gravity pre-concentrating testing done on Fair Bride ore in 2006
· The sample was ground to P90 -0.075 mm. and then four screening tests, using different reagent suites, were undertaken to determine the best conditions for a bulk flotation run to produce the required samples
· Recoveries of between 91% and 94% were achieved in comparison to previous work where recoveries of just over 80% were achieved
· The recoveries were achieved on a mass pull of between 9% and 13%
Commenting on the test work results, Jan Nelson, CEO, said: "The flotation results commissioned by the Auroch team show a considerable improvement in recoveries of sulphide zone. This will impact significantly on the potential revenues that the project could generate. Lower mass pull results recovering more than 50% of the gold at less than 10% and gravity concentration at a coarser grind recovering up to 70% of the gold at a much reduced energy consumption are expected to substantially reduce the cash costs of the project. This clearly highlights the quality of this project and the potential returns Xtract could generate from this project."
The following technical summary is taken from the release by Auroch on test work completed:
Flotation Tests
The sample was ground to P90 -0.075 mm. and then four screening tests, using different reagent suites, were done to determine the best conditions for a bulk flotation run to produce the required samples.
Test No. |
Calculated grade g/t Au |
Au Recovered to conc % |
Conc grade g/t Au |
Mass Pull % |
1 |
3.06 |
94.05 |
21.84 |
13.19 |
2 |
2.98 |
94.06 |
24.30 |
11.52 |
3 |
3.12 |
92.56 |
27.07 |
10.68 |
4 |
3.27 |
91.37 |
32.71 |
9.12 |
These results confirmed the earlier work which resulted in over 90% gold recovery to flotation concentrate in a low percentage mass.
Gravity Tests
For the gravity tests, the ore was ground to a relatively coarse size of 0.5mm and processed over a shaking table. The table residue was further ground to 75 microns and processed in a flotation cell to scavenge the remaining gold. The concentrate from this scavenger flotation was subjected to cyanidation in a bottle roll test to determine gold recovery under standard cyanide conditions - without fine grinding or oxidative leaching.
The gravity tests yielded better than expected results with almost 50% of the gold being recovered into a relatively small mass of less than 3% and 73% being recovered into a mass of 10.7%.
The scavenger flotation recovered 88% of the remaining gold and, of this, 49% was dissolved under standard cyanidation conditions.
The use of gravity concentration at a coarser grind can recover up to 70% of the gold at a much reduced energy consumption. Flotation of the gravity residue produces a concentrate that could be processed in the cyanide circuit already installed for the processing of oxide ore at no extra cost. The overall gold recovery using a gravity flowsheet is 84 % which compares favourably to the recovery of 80% achieved by flotation and ultrafine grinding and that was used as the basis of the recently released Fair Bride PEA on the 11th June 2015.
Enquiries:
Xtract Resources Plc |
Jan Nelson, CEO |
+44 (0)20 3416 6471 |
Cenkos Securities plc |
Derrick Lee / Nick Tulloch |
+44 (0)131 220 6939 |
Beaufort Securities |
Jon Belliss |
+44 (0)207 382 8300 |
St James's Corporate Services |
Phil Dexter |
+44 (0)20 7796 8647 +44 (0)7798 634398 |
Gable Communications |
Justine James [email protected] |
+44 (0)20 7193 7463 +44 (0) 7525 324431 |
Qualified Person
In accordance with AIM Guidelines, Peter Moir, B.Sc. Civil Engineering, M.Eng. Petroleum Engineering, UK Chartered Engineer and Director of Xtract Resources plc is the qualified person as defined in the Guidance Notes for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies, February 2010, of the London Stock Exchange, that has reviewed the technical information contained in this press release. Mr Moir has more than 30 years' experience in technical, operational and commercial aspects of the E&P business.
