Altaley Mining Corporation (TSX-V:ATLY) has kicked off a new metallurgical testing program at its Campo Morado mine.
The company said that the program is designed to look at the possibility of boosting recoveries of both base and precious metals from the Mexican mine.
Maelgwyn Mineral Services Ltd out of Cardiff will conduct the testing, using its patented Imhoflot pneumatic flotation technology for concentrate flotation and Leachox process for forced oxidation and leach recovery of precious metals, Altaley said in a statement.
READ: Altaley Mining unveils 'significant' increases to net revenue and metal recoveries at Campo Morado in 2Q
MMS has shipped an Imhoflot pneumatic flotation pilot plant to Campo Morado and kickstarted a three- to four-month program.
Altaley said it will test the recoveries generated by Imhoflot and compare them with the recoveries currently being realized within the mine's traditional mechanical flotation circuit.
The company will look at the possibility to make a gold-rich pyrite concentrate that could be marketed for sale, it told investors.
Fresh Imhoflot tailings material will be subjected to second phase testing with the Leachox process, a partial sulphide oxidation process for the recovery of gold and silver from sulphide minerals.
“Historic tailing stored on site within the lower tailing's facility containing over 3.3 million tonnes of tailings, will be tested with both the Imhoflot Flotation and Leachox Process at micro fine grind levels to potentially recover both base metals and precious metals not originally recovered within the mine's traditional mechanical flotation cells,” the company said.
It is not the first time that Campo Morado saw Leachox in use: in 2013, the operation’s previous owner tested the process on the mineralization, resulting in recovery increases of up to 65% gold and 86% silver.
Campo Morado is a polymetallic base metal mine with mining and milling equipment currently producing at an average rate of 2,150 tonnes per day.
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