High Desert Gold (HDG.V) has announced metallurgical test results on its 100% owned Gold Springs project on the Nevada/Utah border. The company concluded its bottle roll tests and reported a gold recovery of between 79% and 89% depending on the zone the ore is coming from. Even though this is lower than the previously reported metallurgical results which revealed a 92% recovery rate, an average recovery rate in the mid-80s is still very acceptable for a heap leach project. Approximately 60% of the gold was recovered in the first 48 hours of the leach test with the balance being recovered in the subsequent 38 days. We assume High Desert Gold will now focus to increase the recoveries after 48-96 hours in order to maximize the returns and avoiding a 40-day leach cycle.
The company also reported the first results of silver recoveries, and these were much lower than we expected. Test work revealed a recovery rate for silver of just 19% on the Grey Eagle zone and a better 53.5% on the Jumbo zone. Both recovery rates are substantially lower than our expected 60-70% recovery rate and will have repercussions on the net recoverable rock value of the Gold Springs project.
Fortunately the company’s most recent drill results compensate for a lower recovery as even after adjusting for the expected recoveries, High Desert Gold’s intersected mineralization results in a rock value of between $20-35/tonne.
> Click here to read the press releases (today’s drill results aren’t on the website yet, but can be found here)
Disclosure: The author holds a long position in High Desert Gold. HDG is a sponsor of the website. Please see our disclaimer for current positions.
