Prodigy Gold (ASX:PRX) has returned recoveries of up to 96.7% following the completion of metallurgical testwork on a series of gold bearing diamond core samples gathered from its Buccaneer Gold Project in the Northern Territory.
The company says these recoveries of 95.1%, 96.7%, and 84.6% were generated from gravity gold and cyanide leach testwork on all 3 composites (oxide, transitional, and fresh) respectively with gravity gold recoveries averaging 18.6%.
Prodigy Gold notes these results relate to metallurgical analysis for previously reported drillholes BCDD2102,03,04,05, and 09.
Testwork was undertaken by Independent Metallurgical Operations (IMO) and was initiated to determine the amenability of oxide, transition, and fresh (sulphide) lithographs to gravity gold, carbon-in-leach (CIL), and heap leach gold recovery.
Metallurgical work was also designed to provide the company with information at a Scoping Study level to analyse the best approach for processing the gold bearing material at the project.
Speaking on the metallurgical testwork Prodigy Gold Managing Director Mark Edwards says: “The company is continuing with mining studies on the Buccaneer Mineral Resource to determine the best approach for advancing this project from an exploration target to a development project. The metallurgical testwork program completed over 2022 was designed to simulate the gold extraction performance of the run-of-mine material that could be processed on a heap leach pad or through a standard CIL plant, such as the facilities already located in the Tanami region.
“the company is continuing with mining studies on the Buccaneer Mineral Resource to determine the best approach for advancing this project from an exploration target to a development project.”
The 2.3km long monzogranite host rock at Buccaneer is the key control of the gold mineralisation. The majority of drilling is focused in the southern 500 to 700 metres of this body, with good potential for additions to the existing resource to the north where drill spacing increases or the monzogranite remains significantly under-drilled. The requirement for future drilling work will form part of the strategic plan that is being developed as part of this ongoing study.
The testwork included in this release is now complete, highlighting that a combination of gravity and CIL processing is the most efficient way to extract the gold. Heap leaching is no longer the preferred option due to lower than expected gold recoveries. Going forward, the company will focus on the gravity and CIL option.”
The company also notes these results represent the fastest kinetics achieved for oxide and transition composites achieving the highest overall recoveries, and that all 3 composites are amenable to conventional crushing and grinding processes.
However, the low overall gold recoveries in the column leach testwork demonstrates that heap leaching is not a viable option for the company.
With metallurgical testwork now completed on representative samples gathered from the project, Prodigy Gold announces a study to evaluate processing and mining scenarios for the Buccaneer mineral resource is ongoing, including the assessment of IMO’s recommendations outlined in the technical report.
Prodigy Gold is an ASX-listed company with a unique greenfields and brownfields exploration portfolio within the proven multi-million-ounce Tanami Gold Province within the Northern Territory. The company’s Buccaneer project is located within this multi-million-ounce province and is currently estimated at 10 million tonnes (Mt) @ 1.8g/t gold (Au) for 585koz above a 1g/t cut-off grade, which is based on processing at a mill the scale of Northern Star/Tanami Gold’s Central Tanami Joint Venture Project Processing Plant.
Other assets included in the company’s exploration portfolio include the Lake Mackay, North Arunta, Hyperion, and Old Pirate projects.
Images: Prodigy Gold NL
