Northern Superior Resources Inc. (TSX-V:SUP, OTCQX:NSUPF) reported positive results from metallurgical testing done at SGS Lab on composites from its Philibert project, located 60 kilometers (km) southwest of Chibougamau, in Québec.
The Toronto-based gold exploration company reported positive metallurgical testing with flotation concentrate recoveries of up to 95.6%.
The testing was carried out on three composites from the Philibert deposit to develop initial metallurgical data to evaluate if the style of mineralization is amenable to flotation followed by cyanidation. The results indicate that cyanidation of the tails may not be required, said Northern.
The company highlighted the Arctic Fox South zone with 95.6% of the gold in 9.5% of mass; Arctic Fox North zone with 93.3% of the gold in 13.2% of mass; and Red Fox zone with 95.5% of the gold in 15% of mass.
"With such high recovery of the gold content in a flotation concentrate, recovering the gold in an efficient manner is not expected to be an issue,” Northern Superior CEO Simon Marcotte said in a statement.
“The gold recovery by flotation from all areas tested to date is favorable and increases our confidence that the Philibert project demonstrates the right attributes to achieve strong potential economics in the future," he added.
The 34 independent samples on halved NQ drill core used in the program were collected by GoldMinds Geoservices from the 2022 drilling campaign for sample preparation and gold analysis, head and composite analysis, flotation on three composites, cyanidation, and flotation of tails, said the company.
The three composites were selected from the hanging wall zone of the Philibert project including the Arctic Fox South, Arctic Fox North, and Red Fox zones. The flotation metallurgical tests were done on 2 kg test charges ground to P80 = 75 µm and subjected to flotation under typical conditions for sulphide flotation. The two flotation products were analyzed for gold (Au), silver (Ag), and sulfur (S).
The evaluated samples ranged in head grade from 1.85 grams per ton (g/t) Au on Composite 3 to 5.10 g/t Au on Composite 1. The silver content was <2 g/t in all three samples.
Northern Superior said the three composites “responded well” to sulfide flotation, with sulfide recoveries from 95% to 97%, gold recoveries from 93% to 96%, and silver recoveries from 38% to 68%, at between 10% and 15% mass recovery. Gold and silver contents in the flotation tails were very low at <0.2 g/t and <0.5 g/t respectively.
Due to the low gold and silver contents in the tails, cyanidation tests were only done on the flotation concentrates. Cyanidation of the flotation concentrates yielded final gold extractions from 91% on Composite 3 to 96% on Composite 1.
Northern shared results for screened metallic analysis for gold and silver by Fire Assay, and sulfur by Leco.
After the scoping test work, Northern concluded that the three composites tested “responded well” to conventional sulfide flotation at primary grinds of 80-90 μm (P80), yielding >93% gold and sulfide recoveries in mass recoveries of 10-to-15%.
Overall gold recoveries through cyanidation of flotation concentrates were in the 86% to 92% range and despite the close association between gold and the sulfide minerals in the flotation process, the test work shows the gold in the deposit is not locked in the sulfides and is amenable to cyanidation.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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