North Bay Resources Inc. (OTC:NBRI) announced that it has started test milling operations at the Bishop Gold Mill in Inyo County, California, with the first shipment of gold ore from its Fran Gold Project, located in British Columbia.
The company said the initial phase will involve testing the jaw crusher to break down the ore to less than ½ inch, which will then be fed into the ball mill for further reduction to minus 150 mesh.
The ore will then be turned into a slurry and sent to the gravity separation table to extract free gold and other valuable metals.
Afterward, the flotation cells and reagent formulation will be optimized and tested, followed by further upgrading of the flotation concentrate using a second gravity table before sending the remainder to tailings.
The free gold and any precious metal concentrate will be melted in the on-site furnace to produce Dore bars or similar high-grade products for secure storage or transport to a gold refinery in Reno, Nevada.
The initial shipment of gold from the Fran Gold Project consisted of 22 tons of surface material, which returned grades of 1.2 to 2.3 ounces of gold per ton when assayed.
Approximately 5,000 tons of ore are ready for shipment from the project, with a large amount of near-surface material in trenches.
In parallel, environmental and operational assessments for the mill, such as a tailings pond inspection and water testing, are ongoing.
North Bay plans to reduce material transportation costs through equipment acquisition and is evaluating rail transport options.
The company also aims to begin mining operations at its Mt. Vernon and Taber gold mines, with preparations underway.
At Mt. Vernon, the company said its mine engineering consultant is updating the extraction plan for the drill, blast, load and removal of a 500-ton high-grade bulk sample and is expected soon, with site preparations to follow.
At the Taber Gold Mine, crews continue to rehabilitate the Wild Boar Zone, located 700 feet into the mine. Samples of the three known mining faces will begin once the rehabilitation work is completed.
Further, North Bay announced that it has engaged the Sabean Group for media and management consulting, featuring industry veterans like Tim Sabean and Al McGowan.