NioGold Mining (NOX.V) has released the results of its metallurgical test work after conducting a column leach test on ore samples coming from the Marban gold deposit in Québec. NioGold is trying to make its Marban project viable by exploring different processing options and has decided to try to find out whether or not the Marban ore could be processed as a heap leach operation.
Two sample results have been released, and after a 91 day leach time, roughly 65% of the gold has been recovered, using 1.11 kilos of cyanide per tonne of ore in the process. Whilst the average recovery rate is actually pretty good considering the nature of the ore, we are still unsure about Marban as an open pit mine. As we explained in a previous blog post, a lot more work needs to be done to confirm Marban is ‘open pittable’ as the mineralization starts quite deep, indicating the strip ratio will be very high.
NioGold is trying to make the project work and we really hope Michael Iverson and his team can make it work, but we’re afraid the only cure to boost the economics of Marban is a higher gold price.
> Click here to go to NioGold’s website
Disclosure: The author has no position in NioGold. Please see our disclaimer for current positions.
