Big Ridge Gold (TSX-V:BRAU) is planning to use 2026 metallurgical results showing 88% gold recovery to advance a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) at its Hope Brook Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada.
The program, run at Base Metallurgical Labs and directed by Canenco Consulting, tested mineralisation from the 100%-owned project.
Locked-cycle flotation produced a concentrate grading about 24% copper (Cu), 300 grams per tonne gold (Au) and 93g/t silver (Ag), with 90.3% Cu recovery. Leaching the cleaner tails lifted overall recovery to 88% Au. Rougher flotation returned up to 96.6% Au and 98.6% Cu recovery.
Historical production from 1994 to 1997 recovered about 82–90% of gold at a feed grade of roughly 3g/t — compared with 1.08g/t in the latest testwork.
Gravity testing recovered 53.7% of gold into about 1.75% of feed mass under laboratory conditions. Plant modelling indicates gravity recoveries of 27–40%, though flotation tests with and without gravity showed minimal differences.
CEO Michael Bandrowski says the results back a conventional flotation and leaching flowsheet for the PEA.
“The strong copper and gold recoveries and high-grade copper-gold concentrate exceeded our expectations,” Bandrowski adds.
The company plans further locked-cycle flotation, integrated flotation and leaching tests, and variability testing across ore types, alongside tailings testing and an update to the 2014 tailings mineral resource estimate.
Hope Brook produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 to 1997. It hosts an indicated resource of 16.19 million tonnes (Mt) grading 2.32g/t Au for 1.2 million ounces, and an inferred resource of 2.215Mt at 3.25g/t for 231,000 ounces, based on a US$1,750 ($2,507) per ounce gold price.
Big Ridge closed at C$0.52 on 16 October, valuing the company at about C$165.57 million ($168.3 million).
Big Ridge Gold is a Canadian developer advancing gold projects across Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, and Québec, Canada.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Unsplash
