The final results are in for metallurgical column leach test-work by Surefire Resources NL (ASX:SRN) from its 100% owned Yidby Gold Project, northeast of Perth near Paynes Find on the Great Northern Highway in WA.
Multi-million ounce, undiscovered gold
Yidby Gold Project is a large gold system in the Yalgoo-Singleton Greenstone Belt in the Murchison Province of the Yilgarn Craton which hosts multi-million-ounce gold deposits.
The treasure contained in this system has never been disturbed by explorers, despite its proximity to other gold deposits, because it occurs under transported cover.
Yidby contains mineralised zones up to 80 metres wide and currently extends over a 3-kilometre strike length, open along strike and at depth.
Drilling intersections to date contain mineralisation from zones of high-grade gold, such as 5 g/t up to 82 g/t gold and broader zones with 0.2 g/t to 1.5 g/t gold.
Surefire advises that these results may be significantly under-reported as a conclusion of the metallurgical work.
The column leach test work achieved a 68% increase in gold content above previous drill assay results due to the prominence of coarse gold (+0.5mm) at the Yidby project, indicating there is a significant underreporting of previous gold grades.
These column leach results were from non-agglomerated coarse material (6.33mm) and achieved a 66.3% recovery, indicating that a finer crush size would further improve gold recovery providing a significant upside for the resource grades.
The company says gold recovery of 66.3% at 100% passing 6.3mm is an "excellent" result. The process recovered 66.3% of the available gold within 69 days and the leach recovery had not concluded.
More where that came from
Appreciable extraction of gold was ongoing, and if extraction had wrapped up, the recovery line would present as horizontal.
Before leaching, a crushed sub-set was taken from the 80 kilograms of diamond core allotted to the leach test work, to provide a predicted grade for the leach test.
The pre-leach sub-set provided a predicted head grade of 0.53g/t gold.
Gold extraction versus time – Yidby Gold Project column leach test 100% passing 6.3mm – not agglomerated.
The program has also highlighted the potential for a low-cost heap or vat leach operation.
Managing director Paul Burton said: “Metallurgical test-work results always provide more reliable and insightful information than original drill results.
“For Yidby these results are very encouraging and provide a solid step up for the project at a time when gold is of increasing value.
“This continues to be a great asset for the company and I look forward to presenting further updates on this exciting project.”
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