Tocvan Ventures Corp. (CSE:TOC) said bulk sampling at its Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico, has produced favourable results.
It said over 800 tonnes of material are being processed through heap leach while an additional 350 tonnes of crushed material and 250 tonnes of raw-bulk sample are available for gravity recovery and agitated leach testing, with initial results from the first week of leaching highlighting the start of gold and silver going into solution for recovery.
"As the bulk sample continues, preliminary results are showing the excellent potential of Pilar,” said Brodie Sutherland, CEO, in a statement. “With each step forward, we are getting a more accurate representation of what kind of grade and recovery potential exist at Pilar, giving us added confidence for the development of the project. We look forward to updating as we continue to evaluate the bulk sample and compare multiple recovery methods to optimize that potential.”
The company said the leaching process has started successfully, adding that results from the initial sampling of carbon material used to filter the leaching solution, capturing gold and silver indicate the process is performing well. Additionally, 148 new samples were collected from the fine fraction of screened material not included in the heap leach pile, showing improved grades of gold and silver, averaging 2.1 grams per ton (g/t) gold and 14.8 g/t silver.
The fine fraction along with additional bulk sample material will be used in testing gravity recovery methods with later agitated leach. A metallic screen study on the fine fraction material indicates 12.4% to 14.1% of the gold and 4.5% to 5.3% of the silver are distributed within the coarser screened material, suggesting that most of the gold and silver is fine but coarse and free gold is still present.
The assayed samples total 815.8 kg of fine fraction material.
The Pilar property has recently returned some of the region’s best drill results and so far, over 23,000m of drilling has been completed.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com