{kanada_flagge} Metallurgical tests on two 36 kilogram samples from the near-surface oxide portion of the Gabbs gold-copper project in Nevada have returned very good recovery rates averaging 97.5 percent for gold and 95.2 percent for copper, indicating the milling potential of the oxide ore. The oxide mineralization of the Sullivan Zone was investigated. The results are part of a larger metallurgical survey conducted by P2 Gold Inc. (TSXV:PGL;FRA:4Z9) is conducting in parallel with drilling at the Gabbs project. P2 Gold recently acquired the advanced Gabbs project from the Waterton Precious Metals Fund’s holdings in Option. The project is located on the Walker Lane trend in west-central Nevada, approximately 145 miles from Reno.
Oxide copper could be included in future resource for first time
The P2 Phase 1 metallurgical program focused on oxide mineralization, as the current inferred mineral resource for Gabbs assumes zero recovery of oxide copper mineralization. By confirming that viable options exist for recovering copper from the oxide mineralization, the Company believes that oxide copper can be included in future Mineral Resource estimates and considered for recovery in the preliminary economic assessment planned for 2022/23. This is potentially significant as approximately 143.3 million pounds of oxide copper is defined but not included in the Gabbs Inferred Mineral Resource (see P2 news release dated February 23, 2021 and National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report, Updated Mineral Resource Estimate of the Gabbs Gold-Copper Property dated January 13, 2021 posted on www.sedar.com on March 11, 2021).
Milling and Heap Leach Potential Successfully Tested
As an initial assessment of the heap leach potential of the Sullivan Zone oxide mineralization, bottle roll tests were conducted in which five and ten kilograms of crushed material were placed in a bottle of leach solution and rotated at one minute intervals, after which each hour was allowed to rest for 59 minutes. The tests were conducted for eight days to recover copper in an acid leaching cycle. The solution was then drained, the material rinsed, and the pH adjusted in preparation for an eight-day bottled gold leaching cycle with cyanide. Separate tests were performed with ½ inch and ¼ inch comminution of the feed material to determine how comminution size affected recovery. As expected, samples crushed to ¼ inch had improved recoveries of approximately 15% to 25% and 4% to 7% for gold and copper, respectively.
For an initial assessment of the crushing potential of oxide mineralization at the Sullivan Zone, two kilograms of samples were crushed to 100 microns (0.1 millimeter). The remaining sulphide mineralization and 65% to 75% of the gold were recovered in a coarse flotation concentrate before the sample was acidified to recover the oxide copper mineralization in a 48-hour leach cycle. The sample was then dewatered, rinsed and pH adjusted and then leached for gold for an additional 48 hours. Results from these tests are shown in Tables 1 and 2 and range from 96.3% to 98.1% (average 97.2%) for gold and 91.2% to 99.1% (average 95.2%) for copper.
A Phase II metallurgical program at Gabbs is being planned using samples from the current drill program. The program is expected to use drill core from two diamond drill holes to provide samples for bottle roll and column testing of the oxide and transition zones. In addition, samples from the Gabbs Phase I drill program will be used to test sulphide mineralization. Results from the Phase 2 metallurgical program are expected to be incorporated into the planned preliminary economic assessment.
CONCLUSION: The recent metallurgical results could have an immediate positive impact on the size of the inferred resource for P2 Gold. Previous calculations had valued the oxide copper ore at zero. Instead, only the sulphide copper deposits were considered. The recovery rates now measured for the oxide ore indicate the possibility of either milling or heap leaching the ore. The stakes are high because, to date, 143.3 million pounds of oxide copper have been defined but not included in the resource. If the oxide copper ore could also be recovered economically, that would be a nice windfall for P2 Gold.
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