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Los Andes Copper Ltd. Announces Results of Metallurgical Testwork Show Improvements from Historical Work
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2017) - Los Andes Copper Ltd. (TSX...
About this update from Los Andes Copper Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":"Los Andes Copper Ltd. Announces Results of Metallurgical Testwork Show Improvements from Historical WorkVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 18, 2017) - Los Andes Copper Ltd. (TSXV: LA) (\"Los Andes\", or the \"Company\") is pleased to announce the results of the metallurgical testwork performed by SGS and coordinated and supervised by Empirica Consultores on the Company's 100% owned Vizcachitas copper—molybdenum porphyry project in Central Chile.Key findings:Overall copper recoveries remain at over 90% using a coarser grind size when compared to historical test work Rock competence (hardness) and resulting energy consumption is in line with similar deposits in ChileCoarser grind size reduces power requirements, improves water recovery, and increases throughput in the mills — the optimization will be captured in the Company's anticipated Q1 2018 preliminary economic assessment (\"PEA\") Antony Amberg, President & CEO of Los Andes, commented:\"We are delighted with the results of our recent metallurgical test work. The Company has been able to show that given the nature of the deposit, we are able to recover over 90% of contained copper at significantly coarser grinding levels. \"This reduction in grinding for the rougher flotation stage would result in a decrease in the power and water consumption of the project. These reductions could have significant effects in mill throughput and operating costs, as well as help reduce the environmental footprint of the project. \"We look forward to providing further information in our forthcoming Q1 2018 updated PEA following our expected 43-101 resource update in January 2018 as we continue to progress the Vizcachitas project.\"Metallurgical Test workSample Selection/Head CharacterizationForty samples were selected from the 2015/2016 and 2017 drilling campaigns, from an area of 676 metres East-West x 682 metres North-South with an elevation ranging between 1176 and 1994 metres. Head grades for the samples averaged 0.48% Cu and 0.022% Mo. Four predominant rock types were identified (Andesite, Breccia, Diorite and Tonalite) in combination with five alteration types (Biotite, Chloritic, Qtz-Ser, Ser-Cl and Si-Ser). The predominant copper bearing sulfide species is chalcopyrite although a minor presence of bornite, covellite and chalcocite was observed ...