Great Bear Resources (TSX-V:GBR) Ltd has reported gold recovery test results from its 100% owned flagship Dixie Project, in the Red Lake district of Ontario that show “very high gold recoveries at all grades".
The Vancouver-based precious metals miner said it selected what were anticipated to be the "most difficult" mineralized domains to extract gold from at the LP Fault.
“This has strong positive implications for the future development potential of the Dixie project,” president and CEO Chris Taylor said in a statement.
“Similar very high gold recoveries from the Dixie Limb and Hinge zones using comparable grinding and cyanidation protocols indicates mineralized material from all gold zones is likely amenable to processing through the same extraction circuits.”
READ: Great Bear Resources says ongoing drill program ‘significantly extends gold mineralization’
Highlights of the gold recovery results include:
- Ten one kilogram (kg) representative samples were analyzed at Blue Coast Research Ltd. of Parksville, British Columbia
- Samples were composited from 10 to 13-metre long core intervals and were processed through a standard 48-hour bottle roll procedure at 40% solids, using a 1.0 gram per liter (g/L) sodium cyanide solution
- All tested combinations of grades, host rocks, sulphide content and alteration styles recovered a very high percentage of total gold, within a 4% range from 95.2% to 99.2%
- While high-grade gold samples recovered the highest percentage of total gold during cyanidation, sub-gram low-grade gold mineralization nonetheless achieved excellent recoveries of greater than 95%
- LP Fault gold mineralization is not refractory. All samples, regardless of grade, were described as "free-milling", indicating gold is not encapsulated in sulphide accessory minerals
- Free gold mineralization has repeatedly been observed and reported by Great Bear, including during petrographic/microscope analysis
“Initial LP Fault cyanidation gold recovery tests confirm that non-refractory, free gold dominates all low to high-grade domains tested to date,” Taylor said.
“All Dixie gold zones have excellent potential for significant gravity circuit gold recoveries, which will be investigated in the next phase of metallurgical testing.”
Research Capital ups target
In a note reacting to Monday's news, analysts at Research Capital raised their price target for Great Bear to $40 from $36 and repeated a 'Speculative Buy' rating on the stock.
The analysts said: "The results were excellent with recoveries varying from 95.2% to 99.2% (averaging 97.2%). As a result, we have increased the assumed gold recovery for the LP Fault zone to 95% from 90%, previously."
They concluded: "This has a material impact on our estimated value of the project, increasing its NPV5% to $4.4B to $4.8B. Therefore, we are increasing our target price to $40/sh from $36/sh, previously."
Great Bear Resources (TSX-V:GBR) is a well-financed gold exploration company managed by a team with a track record of success in mineral exploration.
The company is focused in the prolific Red Lake gold district in northwest Ontario, where it controls over 190 square kilometres of highly prospective tenure across five projects: the flagship Dixie Project is 100% owned (subject to a 2% NSR), the Pakwash Property (earning a 100% interest), the Sobel Property (earning a 100% interest), and the Red Lake North Property (earning a 100% interest) all of which are accessible year-round through existing roads.
-- Adds Research Capital target hike --
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com