Intrepid reports preliminary E. Java gold project economic assessment
Friday, August 27 2010 - 02:44 AM WIB
?Preliminary column leach testwork is being performed at Kappes Cassiday in Reno, Nevada. Testwork is being performed at crush sizes of minus 25mm and minus 9.5mm on three composited samples from the completely oxidised zone and one sample from the transition zone,? the company said in statement.
Results to day 29 for gold indicate a recovery range of 67% to 85% for the completely oxidised zone and 60% to 66% in the transition zone, which has been identified above the deeper zone of copper-gold porphyry mineralization. Silver recoveries range from 17% to 52%, it said.
These results remain preliminary until residue grades are assayed at completion, expected to be day 60. However, these initial results are very encouraging and suggest that a heap leach processing scenario may present an attractive development option. The implications for cut-off grade, tonnage throughput, capital costs and associated issues are currently under review as part of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
Brad Gordon, the Company?s CEO said: ?With the heap leach testwork results to date, the Oxide Zone could shape up to be a significant producer in its own right, quite separate from the huge potential of the underlying porphyry system.?
The grade-tonnage is estimated by Independent Consultants Hellman and Schofield Pty Ltd and reported in accordance with the JORC Code and National Instrument 43-101. It includes Zones A, B and C in a single estimate, up to and including Hole GTD-135. A further 25 holes have been drilled into the oxide targets since this estimate was compiled.
Based on 100% gold recovery, at a gold-equivalent cut-off of 0.5 grams per ton, the Inferred Resource is 95.3 Mt at 0.66 g/t gold and 25.9 g/t silver for contained ounces of 2.0 MOz gold and 79.4 MOz silver.
A new resource estimate will be compiled by the end of 2010. (denny)