Mega′s Preliminary Metallurgical Testing at North Madsen Project in Red Lake Ontario Indicates Greater Than 95% Recovery
Mega Precious Metals Inc. (MGP:TSX-V) ('Mega?) is pleased to
announce that it has received results from the first laboratory testing
program to investigate the mineral processing characteristics of the
Potential Open Pit at the North Madsen Gold Deposit in Red Lake Ontario.
The results demonstrate excellent amenability to standard bottle roll
leaching with recoveries greater than 95% of the feed gold for a range
of samples.
This scoping level test program was conducted by SGS Minerals Services
(SGS) and was designed to investigate the ore characteristics and
metallurgical response of samples from their respective deposits to
conventional gold processes.
The North Madsen samples tested in this program were from three distinct
zones: Main Zone, Laverty Dyke and Buffalo Extension.
HIGHLIGHTS:
All test composites treated were highly amenable to gold recovery by
conventional process flow sheets;
All test composites contained significant amounts of coarse gold
'free? amenable to gravity concentration. Gold recoveries of 35 to
70% into gravity concentrates were obtained;
Cyanidation tests on all of the samples indicate that greater than 95%
of the gold was extracted into solution after 48 ?hours;
Gold recoveries with a particle size of 47 ? ?m K80
showed that approximately 93% of the gold can be recovered by a
rough concentrate and Mozley concentrate combined;
Gold recoveries to the Mozley concentrate ranged from approximately 7
to 70%;
Results from the cyanidation tests suggest that there is not much of
variability in the samples within the given zones;
Bond ball harness tests indicated that work indices ranged from
approximately 15 to 18 ?kWh/t; and
Optimum sodium cyanide and lime consumptions were approximately 0.1
kg/t and the cyanide consumption was approximately 1.5 kg/t.
Based on the metallurgical results achieved to date, Mega expects
that a combined gravity and cyanidation process in a plant should
recover greater than 95% of the gold.
Overall, the samples′ responses to conventional gold processing methods
were excellent, and the processing of the ore from the North Madsen
property could be economically viable and the results from SGS can be
used for future preliminary economic assessment studies of the North
Madsen Deposit.
Jim Rogers, President & Chief Executive Officer commented, 'The
metallurgical recoveries for the potential North Madsen open pit have
exceeded our expectations, and more importantly, the metallurgical
testing confirms that conventional, low risk process approach can
achieve excellent recoveries, of greater than 95% in less than 48 hours.
These tests clearly demonstrate moderate ore hardness, excellent
liberation and separation of gold-rich mineralized zones at reasonable
grind sizes, as well as excellent recoveries. These results clearly
indicate that overall metallurgical performance from the North Madsen
deposit material should be very positive.? Mr. Rogers further commented,
'I would like to thank the team at Tetra Tech and SGS for their tireless
efforts on the Gold process work. Their commitment to the project has
led to these very encouraging results.?
Technical Information
The chemical content of the samples tested in this program are
summarized in Table 1.
Table 1: Summary of Head Assays | |||||||||
Composite | ? | Zone | ? | Sample Type | ? | Au (g/t) | ? | S (%) | |
Composite 1 | Laverty Main | Granodiorite | 1.06 | 0.02 | |||||
Composite 2 | Buffalo Extension | Disseminated/Qtz Tourmaline | 1.32 | 0.23 | |||||
Composite 3 | Laverty Dyke | Mafic Dyke | 3.05 | 0.07 | |||||
Laverty Dyke 1 | Laverty Dyke | Granodiorite | 0.42 | 0.05 | |||||
Laverty Dyke 2 | Laverty Dyke | Contact | 2.25 | 0.13 | |||||
Laverty Dyke 3 | Laverty Dyke | Dyke | 2.36 | 0.12 | |||||
Master Laverty Dyke | Laverty Dyke | Blend of 1,2,3 | 1.15 | 0.06 | |||||
Buffalo Extension 4 | Buffalo Extension | Disseminated | 0.50 | 0.16 | |||||
Buffalo Extension 5 | Buffalo Extension | Quartz - Tourmaline | 0.32 | 0.10 | |||||
Master Buffalo Extension | Buffalo Extension | Blend of 4,5 | 0.37 | 0.13 | |||||
|
Gravity Test Work
Results from the gravity tests conducted on Composite 1 showed that feed
gold recoveries to the Mozley concentrate ranged from approximately 35
to 70% (Figure 1)
The tests that started with a feed mass of 4 ?kg instead of 2 ?kg showed
higher recoveries. The variance in recoveries at similar grind sizes,
along with the varying calculated gold head grades suggest the presence
of 'free? or 'nugget? gold in the samples.
Please click on the following link to view Figure 1: Summary of Main
Zone Gravity Test Results:
www.usetdas.com/maps/mega/mgpjuly17002.gif
Flotation Test Work
In Figure 2, an improvement in gold metallurgical performance can be
observed for each of the main zone composites in tests using a finer
feed particle size. At approximately a 4% feed mass recovery, the test
(Composite 1: F3) with a particle size of 47 ? ?m K80 showed that
approximately 93% of the feed gold could be recovered into a rougher
concentrate and Mozley concentrate combined. Extending the mass recovery
to over 16% increased the cumulative feed gold recovery to over 95%.
Please click on the following link to view Figure 2: Rougher Circuit
Performance - Effect of Grind Size:
www.usetdas.com/maps/mega/mgpjuly17004.gif
Cyanidation of Variability Composite Test Work
Targeting a normal particle size of 75 ? ?m, a total of 14 cyanidation
tests were conducted on the variability composites, representing the
Laverty Dyke and Buffalo Extension zones. This included seven tests on
whole ore samples, and seven tests on gravity tailings samples. The
results from these tests are summarized in Figure 3.
Results from the cyanidation test results on the variability composites
suggest that there is not a great deal of variability in the samples
within the given zones. The overall gold extraction of the gravity
concentrate plus the cyanidation of the gravity tailings was very
similar to the overall gold extraction of just the whole ore. The
Laverty Dyke samples performed slightly better than the Buffalo
Extension samples, but all cyanidation tests conducted on the whole ore
of the samples obtained gold extractions of over 90%. Sodium cyanide and
lime consumptions were low in all tests, averaging less than 0.4 ?kg/t
combined.
Please click on the following link to view Figure 3: Summary of
Cyanidation Test Results - Variability Composites:
www.usetdas.com/maps/mega/mgpjuly17006.gif
Bond Ball Hardness Test Work
A Bond ball test was conducted on all of the composite samples to
determine their respective Bond work indices and categorize their
hardness. The results are summarized in Figure 4.
Please click on the following link to view Figure 4: Summary of Ore
Hardness Test Results:
www.usetdas.com/maps/mega/mgpjuly17008.gif
Results from the Bond ball tests indicated that work indices ranged from
approximately 15 to 18 ?kWh/t, with Composite 3 being the softest, and
Laverty Dyke 1 being the hardest. Based on Bond measures, the samples
can be classified as moderately hard.
The property has been explored since 1925 by Red Lake Mines Limited
followed by various other companies with numerous trenches, ground
geophysical surveys and diamond drilling. The diamond drilling to date
shows the emergence of two types of structural and lithological features
typical of known world class gold camps.
On September 20th, 2011 Mega released an NI-43-101 compliant gold
resource of 23.5 mm tonnes at 1.24 g/t for 937,167 ounces of measured
plus indicated and 11.5 mm tonnes at 1.03 g/t for 379,167 ounces of
inferred. ? ? During 2012 Mega has completed an additional 8,000 m of
diamond drilling. ? ?Further assay results for the remainder of this
program will be released in the coming weeks.
Mega management believe that their Laverty and East My-Ritt properties
are all part of a much larger gold system that encompasses the adjacent
Howey, Hasaga and Gold Shore mines which historically produced
approximately 640,000 ounces of gold. Mega has an option to acquire a
100% interest in both Laverty and East My-Ritt properties.
The prolific Red Lake camp has produced more than 25 million ounces of
gold and production of about 700,000 ounces of gold per year continue as
the district's production base from Goldcorp's Red Lake Gold Mines. When
compared to other camps, Red Lake is still a young and developing camp
where consolidation, mechanization, improvements to processing
technology and 'Big Picture' economics will improve margins and drive
future success
Glen Kuntz, Chief Operating Officer (COO), is the Qualified Person for
the information contained in this press release and is a Qualified
Person defined by National Instrument 43-101. Glen was Sr. Resource
Geologist at the Campbell Gold Mine and Global Spatial Data Systems
Coordinator for Placer Dome, Vice President Enterprise Mining Solutions
for Runge Ltd., and most recently, Vice President Global Operations for
GMC Global.
Mega Precious Metals Inc. is a well financed Canadian-based
mineral exploration company with several projects in Northwestern
Ontario, Manitoba and Nunavut. The Company is committed to an
accelerated growth strategy and is backed by a team of experienced
mining experts and a strong financial position. The Company is poised
for rapid expansion through quick response to new opportunities and
changes in the market. Mega′s common shares trade on the TSX Venture
Exchange under the symbol MGP.
For further information and presentation material, please review the
Mega website at www.megapmi.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relating to the Company′s
exploration activities, project expenditures and business plans are
'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of securities
legislation.The Company does not intend, and does not assume any
obligation, to update these forward-looking statements.These
forward-looking statements represent management′s best judgment based on
current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. The
Company makes no representation that reasonable business people in
possession of the same information would reach the same conclusions.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results,
performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by the forward-looking statements.In particular,
fluctuations in the price of gold or in currency markets could prevent
the Company from achieving its targets.Readers should not place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements. More information about
risks and uncertainties affecting the Company and its business is
available in Mega Precious Metal′s filings which are posted on sedar at www.sedar.com.
There is no guarantee that drill results reported in this news
release will lead to the identification of a deposit that can be mined
economically, and further work is required to identify a reserve or
resource.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Mega Precious Metals Inc.
Jim Rogers, President and Chief
Executive Officer
O: 807-766-3380
TF: 877-592-3380
info@megapmi.com