Thesis Gold Inc (TSX-V:TAU) said it has further de-risked its Ranch project in British Columbia, revealing that initial metallurgical results had shown that "high-quality" concentrates" could be produced from the asset using simple, low-cost methods.
Composite samples of core were taken from the Bonanza, Ridge, Thesis II, and Thesis III zones at the property. The work showed that all samples responded well, achieving between 90% and 98% gold recovery, the explorer said.
"We are very pleased by these initial metallurgical results. All the mineralized zones demonstrate the ability to produce high-quality concentrates from simple, low-cost conventional extraction methods," said Dr Ewan Webster, the CEO of Thesis.
"This milestone represents an important step in reducing the overall risk of the project as we advance towards a future resource, engineering, and economic studies," he added.
READ: Thesis Gold announces first assay results from 2022 Summer drill program at the Bonanza Zone and general exploration update for Ranch Gold Project
Average gold grades from two duplicate fire assays ranged from 0.83 grams per tonne (g/t) to 39.7 g/t for the composites.
Silver content was close to 180 g/t in two of the composite samples and was more strongly associated with copper, although not necessarily in strong correlation. Silver grades were otherwise less than 50 g/t, or in half the composites, at less than 5 g/t, said Thesis.
Gravity pre-treatment did not appear to benefit most of the composites, although it was justified for higher grade feeds, recovering up to half of the contained gold, noted the company.
A significant consideration was the sulfur content and extent of sulphide oxidation. Leaching was shown to be best suited to oxidized and lower sulfur material, with flotation showing a better response to composites containing over 1% sulphide sulphur, it added.
Samples with elevated copper and silver responded well to differential flotation.
Copper recovery will be dependent on head grade and ratio to pyrite, while most of the remaining precious metal can be recovered into a secondary concentrate resulting in an overall recovery of 97% for both gold and silver, said Thesis.
Samples with lower sulphide content responded better to whole rock leaching than to flotation. The results using 48-hour leach retention time provided for 95% gold recovery.
Thesis Gold is focused on proving and developing the resource potential of the 17,832-hectare (Ha) Ranch gold project in the 'Golden Horseshoe' area of northern British Columbia, around 300 kilometres (km) north of Smithers.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com