3 Aces bulk sample gold recovery resumes

Golden Predator Mining Corp. May 13 announces that it has resumed the processing of bulk sample material from 3 Aces, a high-grade gold project in southeastern Yukon.

The company systematically excavated roughly 9,800 metric tons of material in 2018 from a series of two-meter benches in the Spades Zone at 3 Aces.

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," Golden Predator Mining Executive Chairman William Sheriff said earlier this year.

Approximately 20 percent of the bulk sample material excavated from the Spades zone last year was transported to the processing facility in 2018, with the balance to be transported this year.

The company reports that the bulk sample processing facility has operated 96.2 percent of the available hours since the start of 2019 operations on April 13. With minimal downtime for maintenance, the recovery plant has processed an average of 49.4 dry metric tons of material per day.

"As we increase our understanding of the metallurgical and geological information from the bulk sample program we continue to improve recovery and operating efficiencies at the plant," Golden Predator penned in its press release.

The overall projected grade for the entire bulk sample is estimated at 20 grams per metric ton 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.

The gravity processing plant, which is now connected to the electrical grid, captures roughly 85 percent recovery of the contained gold without the use of chemicals. This gold reports to two concentrates. The No. 1 concentrate is poured into doré bars and shipped to a refinery for further processing. The No. 2 concentrate, which contains heavy mineral sands with some gold, is being stored while the company finalizes plans for alternative processing.

The most recently poured doré bar contained 86.28 percent gold and 7.63 percent silver, according to the refinery that is processing the bars for Golden Predator.

The company plans to publish monthly reports on the results from the bulk sample processing. These reports are expected to include final reconciliation of recovery, tons and grade for each bench, as well as for the combined 9,800-metric-ton sample following complete processing and refining of the gold.

–SHANE LASLEY