Northern Vertex Provides Commissioning Update for Moss Mine

Precious Metals

Northern Vertex Mining Corp. completes five gold shipments and meets design expectations of their NI 43-101 feasibility report at its Moss Mine.

Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (TSXV:NEE) announced that they have completed five gold shipments and continue to meet the design expectations of their NI 43-101 feasibility report at its Moss Mine in Arizona.

Highlights are as follows:

  • Grade and tonnage reconciliation inline with reserve model
  • Recoveries meeting feasibility numbers
  • Crushing plant throughput better than feasibility
    Mining
    • 241,000 metric tonnes of ore grade material mined to date
    • Blast hole ore grades on Hill #1 and Hill #2 are consistent with our geological model
    • NA Degerstrom (‘NAD’) mining contract has been approved; larger mining fleet to arrive in the coming weeks to increase throughput as a natural extension of our ramp-up
    • Initial block model reconciliation shows ore tonnage at reserve modeled grades are in-line with feasibility study expectations

    Crushing Plant

    • 20 percent increase over feasibility study in through put with average hourly operating rate of 386 metric tonnes
    • 33 percent longer life than feasibility study on life of cone crusher liners with replacement of first set at 100,000 tonnes

    Heap Leach Pad

    • 184,000 metric tonnes crushed, agglomerated and stacked on the pad for processing through April 25, 2018
    • 5,094 gold contained ounces (4,177 recoverable ounces) and 41,960 silver contained ounces (27,274recoverable ounces) have been stacked on the pad as of April 28th

    Process Plant

    • Leach solution started being pumped to pad on February 3, 2018
    • Pregnant solution reporting off of pad on February 11, 2018
    • Pregnant solution initially pumped through Merrill Crowe plant on February 17, 2018
    • First gold pour on March 7, 2018
    • Five shipments of Dore for external refining to date totaling 374 ounces of gold and 1,089 ounces of silver
    • Initial gold recovery is meeting the expected rates from the feasibility model

    Clean Electrical Power

    • The Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) announced on May 1, 2018 that the environmental assessment for the proposed rights-of-way for the electric distribution line, fiber optic line and road expansion proposed on public lands east of Bullhead City to the Moss Mine were available for review and comment. The 15-day public comment period opens on May 3, 2018 and closes May 18, 2018.
    • Replacing existing generators with utility power is expected to reduce emissions from burning 5,300 gallons of diesel fuel per day when the mine is operating at intended capacity

    Human Resources

    • The NEE Operational team currently consists of 55 NEE staff and 22 NA Degerstrom contract miners at the Moss Mine Site.
    • Exploration team lead by NEE Advisors Bud Hillemeyer and Perry During are conducting regional and close proximity satellite exploration programs within the Oatman District.

Kenneth Berry, president & CEO, commented:

Commissioning at the Moss Mine continues towards commercial production. I am delighted with the progress made by our operations team, led by Bill Martinich, to check off punch-list items and provide insightful equipment upgrades to improve operational efficiencies. We anticipate further optimizations during this ramp up period as we continue to pour gold at the Moss Mine.

Click here to read the full Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (TSXV:NEE) press release.

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