TORONTO,
Dec. 3, 2014 /CNW/ - Marathon
Gold Corporation ("Marathon" or the "Company") (TSX: MOZ) today
announced very positive metallurgical test program results based on
a high process recovery of gold by preconcentration and cyanide
leaching methods. A technically viable metallurgical
processing strategy for the production of gold doré from the
Leprechaun Gold Deposit located in central Newfoundland has been developed by Thibault
& Associates Inc. based on representative samples of drill core
from the deposit.
On August 25, 2014,
Marathon contracted Thibault & Associates Inc. to conduct bench
scale metallurgical tests programs to assess and compare the
overall recovery of gold using gravity and/or flotation for
preconcentration followed by cyanide leaching of the gold
concentrates and gravity tailings. The test program objectives were
based on defining the optimum process technology to maximize gold
recovery and provide a competitive process operating cost.
The results of several bench scale tests have
indicated that direct sulphide-gold flotation followed by treatment
of the concentrate by conventional cyanide leaching, carbon-in-pulp
and gold electrowinning will provide an overall gold processing
recovery in the range of 92.8% to 95.0%. The range of the
overall gold processing recovery is dependent on the range of
process conditions used in the test program to assess both
flotation and cyanide leaching.
Phillip C.
Walford, P. Geo., President and CEO of Marathon stated,
"Preliminary leach tests on the direct flotation concentrate using
carbon-in-leach (CIL) without regrinding resulted in a significant
increase in gold extraction and indicates that further improvements
in gold recoveries may be made by using regrinding and CIL.
The processes of flotation followed by leaching of the
concentrate are well known and cost effective; however, ultimate
selection of the final flowsheet will have to balance grind size,
recovery, capital costs and operating costs. Marathon would like to
thank Research and Development Corporation of Newfoundland and Labrador for their financial support in this
study and Mr. John Goode of
J.R. Goode and Associates for
providing an independent review of the metallurgical
program."
Metallurgical Test Representative
Sample
A 100 kilogram master composite sample was
prepared from a blend of drill core samples selected by Marathon to
represent the overall metallurgical characteristics of the
Leprechaun deposit (80% of drill core samples were selected from
the Main Zone, 20% from the Hanging Wall Zone and less than 1% from
the Footwall Zone). The Main Zone comprises 85% of the Measured and
Indicated resource of the Leprechaun Gold Deposit. The gold head
assay for the master composite sample used in the metallurgical
test program was determined by direct assay, metallic screen assay
and cyanide leach to extinction methods which assessed an average
head grade of 3.26 g/t Au (with an accuracy range of plus / minus
0.05 g/t). The average grade of the Main Zone is close to 3
g/t Au.
A mineralogical assessment of the gold
association has not been completed to date; however, the test
program results indicate that the gold is non-refractory and
amendable to cyanide leaching. In addition to a high gold
leachability, the ore does not contain a significant amount of
deleterious metals (such as copper, arsenic and mercury), organic
carbon or sulphides. An industry standard "preg-robbing" test
indicated that preg-robbing would not be an issue and the master
composite sample is considered to be an ideal candidate for
conventional gold processing technology.
Qualified Person
J. Dean Thibault,
P. Eng., Senior Process Chemical Engineer and Principal of Thibault
& Associates Inc., (www.thibault-process-engineering.ca)
located in Fredericton, New
Brunswick, is a registered professional engineer in
Newfoundland and Labrador and is acting as a Qualified Person
in compliance with National Instrument 43-101, with respect to the
metallurgical information contained in this release and has
reviewed the contents for accuracy.
About Marathon Gold Corporation
Marathon Gold is a Toronto based gold resource company with
exploration focused on its 100% owned Valentine Lake Property
located in central Newfoundland.
The Valentine Lake Property currently hosts two near-surface,
mainly pit-shell constrained, NI 43-101 compliant gold resources
totaling 816,000 oz gold at 2.24 g/t (Measured & Indicated) and
149,000 oz gold at 2.64 g/t (Inferred), (August, 2013). These
resources, which are open along strike and to depth, cover less
than 5% of the total length of the highly prospective Valentine
Lake Thrust Fault and associated splay faults which host the
majority of the gold mineralization within the property. Newly
discovered gold zones, including the Sprite Zone and Marathon Zone,
have returned wide intervals of near-surface good gold grades and
have yet to be incorporated into new gold resources for the
Valentine Lake Property. For more information please
visit www.marathon-gold.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
INFORMATION
Except for statements of historical fact
relating to Marathon Gold Corporation, certain information
contained herein constitutes "forward-looking statements".
Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive
in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, or
include words such as "expects", "anticipates", "plans",
"believes", "considers", "intends", "targets", or negative versions
thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional
verbs such as "may", "will", "should", "would" and "could". We
provide forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying
information about our current expectations and plans relating to
the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not
be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this
information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may
be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that
expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions
will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct
and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be
achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited
to those identified and reported in Marathon Gold Corporation's
public filings, which may be accessed at
www.sedar.com. Other than as specifically required
by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on
which such statement is made, or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information,
future events, results or otherwise.
SOURCE Marathon Gold Corporation