First gold from 3 Aces 2018 bulk sample

Golden Predator Mining Corp. Feb. 11 reported that it recovered 365 troy ounces of gold and 34 oz of silver from roughly 600 metric tons of bulk sample processed during the fourth quarter from the company's 3 Aces project in southeastern Yukon. This sampling represents about 6 percent of the 9,800 metric tons of bulk sample material stockpiled during the 2018 season.

Two concentrates were produced from the material ran through the on-site gravity recovery plant. The No. 1 concentrate, consisting of the nearly pure gold recovered, was poured into a 426.4-oz doré bar containing 86.3 percent gold) and 7.63 percent silver. Golden Predator received US$471,386 from the metals contained in this bar. The No. 2 concentrate consists of 658.1 kilograms of heavy material that the company will keep in inventory for further processing.

The company anticipates recovering at least 85 percent of the contained gold in these two concentrates.

The bulk sample material collected at 3 Aces last year was excavated from a series of two-meter benches at Spades, one of the high-grade gold zones identified within the central core area of the 3 Aces project.

The company designed this sampling program to reconcile actual grade against grade predicted by drill results, confirm the pattern of gold distribution, improve metallurgy, and begin to understand rock mechanics.

"We have been impressed by the extent of the mineralization we have been seeing in the bulk sample that was not found even by very close-spaced drilling," said Golden Predator Mining Executive Chairman William Sheriff. "Drilling very high-grade material such as we see in the Spades zone is likely to result in true grades being understated and we expect this bulk sample to demonstrate this point once we have reconciled the sample to the drilling."

Though Golden Predator has completed tightly spaced drilling at the Spades zone, the company says bulk sampling has exposed previously unknown vein orientations and veining, resulting in new geological information from the early stages of the bulk sampling.

"Bulk sampling literally allows you to walk through a portion of the mineralized area as opposed to looking at pin pricks through various parts of it. Drilling takes small samples based on a geological model from which you predict the distribution of gold. Bulk sampling permits you to physically touch the geological model and shows you the gold distribution," said Sheriff.

The overall projected grade for the entire bulk sample is estimated at 20 g/t gold. The company, however, cautions that the grades encountered during the bulk sampling program are specific to defined areas targeted by the study and should not be treated as representative of overall grade and tonnage of any deposit.

Approximately 20 percent of the material excavated last year was transported to the processing facility before year-end, with the remainder to be transported in the coming months. The balance of the 2018 material is slated to be processed into the third quarter of this year, with results and progress reports expected on a monthly basis beginning in April.

The company also expects to collect up to an additional 10,000 metric tons of bulk sample material this year, which will be processed at the company's on-sit facility following the 2018 sample and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020.

Golden Predator said having its own local pilot plant addresses security issues of gold recovery with much greater confidence than if done by a third party. An additional consideration was the benefit to the community through the jobs and additional money invested in the Yukon.

–SHANE LASLEY