In 2023, Tocvan Ventures (CSE: TOC, FWB: TV3, WKN: A2PE64) expanded the Gran Pilar Gold-Silver Project in the Mexican state of Sonora to over 21 square kilometers. This expansion laid the foundation for building scalable infrastructure for a producing mine at Gran Pilar. This goal is now one decisive step closer, as Tocvan has presented a detailed plan for the construction of a 50,000-ton pilot plant.
A portion of the project covering more than 1.76 hectares, which is 100% owned by Tocvan Ventures, has been reserved for mine infrastructure. It includes, among other things, hydrometallurgical processing. Tocvan has impressively demonstrated through its new drilling successes over the past two years that sufficient high-grade ore is available to realize these plans. Drill cores with 19.4 g/t gold over 3.1 meters within a section of 0.6 g/t gold over 106.8 meters impressively underline the great potential that Gran Pilar offers the company.
The pilot leaching platform is designed to process up to 50,000 tons of ore. It represents an important step in determining the key economic parameters for the Gran Pilar project, not just through laboratory tests, but through daily operational practice. In detail, the plans created by independent qualified engineering consultants include a 1.76-hectare leaching area, solution ponds for high and low-grade ore, as well as emergency ponds. Additionally, there is the associated infrastructure. It will consist of a laboratory, offices, security measures, storage rooms for reagents, and temporary waste storage facilities.
Tocvan Ventures Sees the Opportunity to Recover up to 99% of the Gold and up to 97% of the Silver Contained in the Ore
In the hydrometallurgical process, gold and silver are to be extracted from oxidized and mixed minerals using a sodium cyanide solution. The use of a 600 ppm sodium cyanide solution and a sprinkling rate of twelve liters per square meter per hour is planned. In this way, the gold and silver contained in the ore should be recovered within a 60 to 90-day leaching cycle.
To comply with environmental regulations, the plant will be equipped with a modern system for leak detection and monitoring wells. Significant data for the design of the new pilot plant was obtained from the bulk sample processed in 2023. Tocvan Ventures processed ore with a gold content of 1.9 g/t. From this, 1.2 g/t gold could be extracted, corresponding to a share of 62%.
Conducted metallurgical test series indicate, however, that gold recovery can be increased to a high 99% if the “tailings” are subjected to additional processing in further steps. Silver recovery can also be increased to 97% through additional processes introduced into the workflow.
Once the Pilot Plant Starts Operations, the Economic Potential of the Project Will be Impressively Revealed
Tocvan Ventures is currently eagerly anticipating the commissioning of the pilot plant because as soon as gold and silver production starts at Gran Pilar, Tocvan Ventures will not only be in a position to demonstrate the economic potential of the project, but the company will also receive constant revenue from the sale of the extracted gold and silver.
This revenue will contribute to gradually expanding the plant and increasing processing capacity. Therefore, a focus of the planning carried out was on the scalability of the plant. It ensures that the processing capacity can be adjusted to ore production and thus gives Tocvan the ability to react very elastically and flexibly to changes in the future.
Currently, the timelines and budgets for the pilot plant are being finalized, so the plant could begin operations this year. The application for approval of the plant has already been submitted to the relevant authorities, and Tocvan Ventures is bridging the time until the plant starts with additional drilling and digging of further trenches. The due diligence for financing the plant is already underway, and the company expects to be able to present a comprehensive package for financing the plant in the second half of the year.
