Tocvan Ventures Corp. (CSE:TOC) said it has concluded the bulk sample leaching process at its Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico, and the leach pad is now being prepped for final sampling, decommissioning, and precious metal recovery.
Active for 44 days, the leaching process extracted gold (Au) and silver (Ag) from over 800 tonnes of bulk sample material. Bulk sampling was completed in May and the results showed an average grade of 1.9 grams per ton (g/t) Au and 12.7 g/t Ag.
“The company is pleased with the progress of data capture throughout the process and encouraged by the early indications of successful gold and silver recovery,” it said.
The company noted that samples collected from the fine fraction of screened material not included in the heap leach pile averaged 2.1 g/t Au and 14.8 g/t Ag. Additionally, new agitated cyanide bottle roll test of 20 Mesh material has returned 81% recovery of gold and 99% recovery of silver after a 72-hour retention time.
“We are extremely excited to have successfully completed this important step and await the final results imminently,” Brodie Sutherland, CEO, said in a statement.
“The data we have received so far has all been very encouraging and suggests heap leach recovery at Pilar will match or exceed the recoveries recorded at neighboring open pit mines. In addition, continued studies of the gravity and agitated leach recovery methods look to prove an even stronger case for high gold and silver recovery at Pilar through advanced techniques.”
The company also said it has issued 59,137 common shares at a deemed price of $0.475, as payment for interest accrued on convertible notes. The company currently has 39,985,107 common shares outstanding.
The Pilar gold-silver property has recently returned some of the region’s best drill results. Coupled with encouraging gold and silver recovery results from metallurgical test work, Pilar is primed to be a potential near-term producer.
Tocvan was created in order to take advantage of the prolonged downturn in the junior mining exploration sector, by identifying and negotiating interest in opportunities where management feels they can build upon previous success.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com