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Almaden Minerals Achieves 39% Gold And 47% Silver Mill Feed Grade Increase From Bulk Ore Sort Tests for Ixtaca
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Almaden Minerals Ltd. (“Almaden” or “the Company”) (TSX:AMM) (NYSE American:AAU) is pleased to an
About this update from Almaden Minerals Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":" VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Almaden Minerals Ltd. (“Almaden” or “the Company”) (TSX:AMM) (NYSE American:AAU) is pleased to announce that it has achieved positive results from ore sorting trials carried out on ore samples from the Ixtaca gold-silver project located in Puebla State, Mexico. The ore sorting tests were carried out on a commercial XRT sorter using a bulk sample from the limestone host rock in the Ixtaca Main zone. The limestone host rock comprised 82% of the metal produced in the Pre-Feasibility Study which was filed on SEDAR on May 17, 2017 (“2017 PFS”). The results demonstrate that including conventional X-ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting technology: Increases average mill feed grades for the limestone unit by 39% for gold, and 47% for silver; Is expected to significantly increase average annual metal production above the 147,900 ozs AuEq1 per year achieved in the 2017 PFS; Is expected to improve project economic metrics such as IRR and Payback (on an after-tax basis, 41% and 2.2 years, respectively, in the 2017 PFS); Rejects 36% of run of mine as mine waste rock at the crushing stage; Results in 93% recovery for silver and 88% recovery for gold from the ore sorter; Is expected to result in only modest impact on capital costs; Has the potential to reduce the environmental footprint over the life of mine by: – Reducing process tailings; – Reducing process water usage; – Reducing process energy requirements and CO2 emissions. 1 Gold equivalency calculated using a 69:1 silver:gold ratio. The detailed impact of the ore sorting results on the Ixtaca project will be evaluated as part of the ongoing Feasibility Study, which is anticipated to be completed in 2018. Morgan Poliquin, President and CEO of Almaden stated, “The Ixtaca deposit is very well suited to ore sorting. This is because the actual occurrence of gold and silver in the limestone hosted portions of the Ixtaca project is in the form of high grade veins and veinlets, not, for example, as widespread low grade disseminated mineralisation. The many individual veins and veinlets within the vein swarms enclose irregular small bodies of barren limestone because these veins and veinlets branch and re-connect, as well as locally change strike and dip, pinch ...