Classic Minerals has tabled first pass metallurgical numbers from its Kat Gap project near Southern Cross in Western Australia. The test work results show an average gold recovery at Kat Gap of up to 75 per cent in the oxide material using a low-cost conventional gravity separation process.
Conventional cyanide leaching of the gravity gold concentrate showed between 95 per cent and 96 per cent recovery from oxide and fresh ore, hinting at some impressive gold recoveries from a simple, low cost processing flow sheet.
The Perth-based company recently tabled a maiden resource at Kat Gap of almost 93,000 ounces grading 2.96 grams per tonne gold. With the drill rig still churning out impressive results not included in the current resource, the prospects at Kat Gap continue to brighten.
Just last week, the company hit some bonanza gold zones west of the main granite-greenstone contact where the main Kat Gap deposit - and resource - is located.
Classic said that a 4-metre-wide intersection grading 76.72g/t gold from 79m depth including 1m going nearly 10 ounces of gold per tonne is entirely hosted in the granite footwall.
This geological position opens up a new exploration space at the project, and the company said it is planning to investigate this granite-hosted gold lode after the completion of the current infill and extensional RC program at Kat Gap main.
Other notable intercepts not included in the current resource include a 3m hit grading two ounces to the tonne gold from 36m and 10m grading 1.48g/t from a depth of just 24m down hole.
Mineralisation at Kat Gap remains open in all directions and importantly starts from surface - or near to - potentially keeping the stripping ratio and mining costs low.
With an inferred resource grading at nearly 3g/t gold and the metallurgical results to back up a potentially easy and inexpensive processing route, the company said toll treatment or self-processing of its ore at Kat Gap is a very near reality.
The company also noted that a toll treating option would enable Classic to get a hold of some early cash flow whilst the on-site processing option would allow for greater profitability retaining control of its mining and processing costs.
Classic CEO, Dean Goodwin said: …”[Classic’s] recent results gives great hope that there is the possibility of gold deposits to augment and further enhance the gold resources already determined at Kat Gap."
"We will be working on extending the resource with more infill drilling and then expanding the resource with extensional drilling along strike as well as in the granite.”
Kat Gap is located about 70km south-south-east of its Forrestania gold project that takes in the Lady Magdalene and Lady Ada resources.
Classic’s global resource across the region now stands at just over 8 million tonnes grading 1.52g/t for 403,906 ounces of gold.
The metallurgical results are the next piece of the developing Kat Gap puzzle, and with the results suggesting further upside to come, the company can now turn its attention back to the drilling and potential expansion of the resource.
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