Challenger Exploration

Outstanding Results from Metallurgical Testing Significantly Upgrade CEL's Hualilan Gold Project

Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) (“CEL” the “Company”) is pleased to report the results from its balance of its Stage 1 metallurgical testing at the Company's flagship Hualilan Gold Project, in San Juan Argentina. This program involved significantly more detailed flotation, gravity recoverable gold (GRG) tests and leach testing of the various flotation tails components. It has been designed to lock in the flow sheet to support a Scoping Study. Additional Stage 2 work involving comminution and variability testing, blended test work, and pilot plant testing is ongoing.


Highlights
  • Average gold recovery increased to 95% across all ore types at the Hualilan Gold project
  • Clear route to recover zinc and lead credits via standard sequential flotation with recoveries of:
    • 89% for zinc (Zn): (high-grade skarn mineralisation); and
    • 77% for lead (Pb): (high-grade skarn mineralisation)
  • The confirmation of both of Pb and Zn as payable metals will significantly boost project economics with zinc comprising 11% of the historical foreign resource estimate by value1
  • Production of attractive lead (>65% Pb) and zinc (>50% Zn) concentrates and discussions with off-takers confirming excellent payabilities for both concentrates.
  • Sequential Flotation has the added advantage of generating extremely high-grade Au-Ag concentrates (120 g/t Au, 300 g/t Ag) which will significantly reduce transport costs
  • Au-Ag concentrates have no deleterious elements and are exceptionally low in arsenic which, coupled with their high-grade nature, will result in outstanding payability
  • Direct rail option to Rosario Port for concentrate export confirmed with indicative pricing indicating a 50% cost saving on earlier transport options further enhancing project economics

Commenting on the results, CEL Managing Director, Mr Kris Knauer, said

“Our early metallurgical testing was initially completed to provide comfort prior to committing to 200,000 metres of drilling at Hualilan. While it had pointed to good recoveries and attractive concentrates these recent results are far beyond our expectations and provide the project with a major boost.

The ability to recover zinc will materially improve economics as will the significant lift in concentrate grades which cuts concentrate transport costs in half on a per ounce basis. Additionally, the direct rail option will cut anticipated concentrate transport costs in half again.

The best way to sum up the metallurgy is a recent comment by our lead metallurgical consultant from SGS Lakefield to us which was - "You have been blessed with the metallurgy at this project. To concentrate up 50 times with such little loss in recovery across all metals does not happen often at all, and, I am astounded that we can produce a 65% lead concentrate from a starting grade of 0.5%."

The metallurgical testwork program has been conducted using SGS Lakefield. Testwork completed to date involved a sequence of 28 flotation tests (including gravity), gravity recoverable gold tests (GRG), and leach testing of the various flotation tail components. This testing was conducted on composites representative of the higher-grade skarn material, the intrusion-hosted mineralisation, and sedimenthosted mineralisation.

This testing has demonstrated:

  • excellent recoveries of gold, silver, zinc, and lead into various high payability concentrate products for the high-grade skarn material.
  • excellent recoveries of gold and silver into high-payability concentrate for the intrusion-hosted material
  • the outstanding high-grade nature of the concentrates produced with the average gold and silver grades in the Company’s concentrates more than double than indicated by earlier testing
  • the exceptionally clean nature of the gold-silver concentrates which are low in all deleterious elements and have a an extremely low arsenic content making them highly attractive
  • recoveries of 70-80% of any residual gold and silver not recovered into the concentrate via a simple cyanide leach of the floatation tails increasing total recoveries to 95% (Au) and 91% (Ag)
  • excellent gravity recoveries across the various ore types with third party Gravity recoverable Gold (GRG) testing confirming high recoveries via gravity at coarse grind with recovery of
    • 70% Au from the intrusion hosted mineralisation via gravity at a final grind of P80=83µm
    • 44% Au from the high-grade skarn material at a final grind of P80=87µm.
  • good recoveries of gold and silver into an Au-Ag concentrate from the low grade (0.7 g/t Au, 7.6 g/t Ag) sediment-hosted material confirming excellent recoveries for all three components of the Hualilan mineralisation.

Ongoing discussions with potential off-takers as the Stage 1 testing has progressed, refining the grades and compositions of the concentrates likely to be produced, has indicated that payabilities for all metals will be excellent. Expected payability for gold in the Au-Ag concentrates is >95%, with payability for Au-Ag in the Pb concentrate also expected to be >95% with lead payability >90%. Zinc payability is also expected to be at the upper range of what was expected with payability expected to be in the mid to high 80 percent range.

Click here for the full ASX Release

This article includes content fromChallenger Exploration, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.

CEL:AU
The Conversation (0)

Agnico Eagle and O3 Mining Welcome Gold Fields' Support of Their Friendly Premium Transaction

(All amounts expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted)

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) (" Agnico Eagle ") and O3 Mining Inc. (TSXV: OIII) (OTCQX: OIIIF) (" O3 Mining ") are pleased to jointly announce that Gold Fields Limited, through a 100% indirect Canadian subsidiary (" Gold Fields "), O3 Mining's largest shareholder, has agreed to a lock-up agreement with Agnico Eagle to tender its common shares of O3 Mining (" Common Shares ") into Agnico Eagle's offer to acquire all of the outstanding Common Shares for $1.67 per Common Share in cash by way of a take-over bid (the " Offer "). See O3 Mining and Agnico Eagle's joint news release of December 12, 2024 for a detailed description of the Offer. A copy of the December 12, 2024 joint news release is available at: https:www.agnicoeagle.comEnglishinvestor-relationsnews-and-eventsnews-releasesnews-release-details2024Agnico-Eagle-to-Acquire-O3-Mining-in-Friendly-Transactiondefault.aspx .

News Provided by Canada Newswire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
Green River Gold Gives Update on Drilling Progress and Results

Green River Gold Gives Update on Drilling Progress and Results

PRESS RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS:
  1. Drilling results from WK-24-01, WK-24-02, and WK-24-03 confirm consistent nickel mineralization within the Deep Purple Anomaly.
  2. Elevated gold mineralization has been identified in DH-24-01, with gold grades reaching up to 0.761 grams per tonne.

Green River Gold Corp. (CSE: CCR) (OTC Pink: CCRRF) ("the Company" or "Green River") is pleased to announce the completion of four drill holes for the 2024 season: WK-24-01, WK-24-02, WK-24-03, and DH-24-01. WK-24-01 to 03 were drilled with a portable Winkie drill rig (WK) using an AQTQ core barrel and DH-24-01 with a standard-sized diamond drill rig (DH) using an NQ barrel. The Company has received assay results for holes WK-24-01, WK-24-02, and WK-24-03. These holes were drilled along the Deep Purple magnetic anomaly at the Company's 100%-owned Quesnel Nickel Project, located 40 kilometres east of Quesnel, British Columbia, in the Cariboo Mining District of South Central British Columbia, Canada.

News Provided by Newsfile via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less

Agnico Eagle to Acquire O3 Mining in Friendly Transaction

  • All cash offer of $1.67 per share representing a 58% premium to O3 Mining's closing price on December 11, 2024
  • Offer unanimously recommended by Board and Special Committee of O3 Mining and supported by shareholders representing 22% of outstanding shares of O3 Mining

(All amounts expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted)

Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) (TSX: AEM) (" Agnico Eagle ") and O3 Mining Inc. (TSXV: OIII) (OTCQX: OIIIF) (" O3 Mining ") are pleased to jointly announce that they have entered into a definitive support agreement (the " Definitive Agreement "), pursuant to which Agnico Eagle has agreed to offer to acquire, directly or indirectly, all of the outstanding common shares of O3 Mining (the " Common Shares ") at $1.67 per Common Share in cash by way of a take-over bid (the " Offer "). The Offer is valued at approximately $204 million on a fully diluted in-the-money basis.

News Provided by Canada Newswire via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
Plans To Restart Mining Operations at La Colorada Mine, Mexico

Plans To Restart Mining Operations at La Colorada Mine, Mexico

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Heliostar plans to restart mining operations at La Colorada Mine in January, 2025
  • Mining to commence at the Junkyard Stockpile, a focus of recent work programs

Heliostar Metals Ltd. (TSXV: HSTR) (OTCQX: HSTXF) (FSE: RGG1) ("Heliostar" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has undertaken a work program at the historical Junkyard Stockpile at the La Colorada Mine and plans to recommence crushing and stacking in January 2025. The planned restart would initially augment and then replace the current gold production from residual leaching at the mine.

News Provided by Newsfile via QuoteMedia

Keep reading...Show less
Octava Minerals Limited

Additional High Priority Antimony Targets Identified over 10km Corridor at Yallalong Project

Octava Minerals Limited (ASX:OCT) (“Octava” or the “Company”), a Western Australia focused explorer of the new energy metals antimony, REE’s, Lithium and gold, is pleased to report that detailed geophysics over the 10km antimony corridor at Yallalong is now complete and final data has been processed and interpreted.

Keep reading...Show less
Dundas Minerals

New 1 km Zone of Gold Mineralisation Discovered from RC Drilling at Rockland

Dundas Minerals Limited (ASX: DUN) (“Dundas Minerals”, “Dundas” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce highly encouraging first pass assay results from its recently completed drilling campaign within Mining Lease M 24/974 (‘’Rockland’’), at the Windanya Gold Project.

Keep reading...Show less

Latest Press Releases

Related News

×