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Met test results give Cavalier gee-up at Crawford
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Cavalier Resources seeks to become that oh so rarest of creatures – a self-funded junior explorer. A real unicorn in the world of exploration.
The Company’s intention has always been to utilise the near surface gold deposit at Crawford, which lies just 20km east of Leonora, to generate flow in order further explore it’s total tenure, ranging from nearby nickel at Maleta Creek, through to 277 lithium targets at Ella’s Rock.
Today’s exceptional metallurgical heap leach results move the Company another step in the direction towards becoming a self-funded explorer, with the studies on Crawford gold oxides yielding gold recoveries of 77.4% to an outstanding 92.5%, with extraction rates rapid compared to industry standards.
The results have provided the Company with further confidence in the mine-ability of the Crawford gold resource and the decision to consider onsite ore processing in leiu of relying on nearby mills.
While assay grades can grab lots of attention, met test results are pivotal to a project’s viability and environmental impacts.
The latest news for Cavalier (ASX:CVR) comes on the back of a resource upgrade at Crawford after lifting it by 17% to the current 3.8 million tonnes at 1g/t for 117,800oz, and follows on from high recoveries from initial bottle roll testing in June.
Cavalier now anticipates lower than usual heap leach operating costs while advancing towards mining studies for Crawford.
Daniel Tuffin, Executive Technical Director, commented: “These results far exceed all of our prior assumptions for heap leach recoveries, extraction rates and operating costs for the gold bearing oxides at the Crawford Gold project.
“They confirm and validate the Company’s decision to pause the Pre-Feasibilty Study to review the potential of processing ore onsite, removing the need to rely on third party mills in the greater Leonora area in order to enable the generation of future cash flows for further development and exploration activities.”
Heap leaching involves placing ore on a pad then irrigating it with chemicals to dissolve the metal into a solution.
Another highlight of the results was the low levels of mercury, copper and silver, which reduces the need for cyanide consumption and contamination of dore bullion that’s sent to a refinery.
Addditional cost savings can be expected due to the natural pH of the oxide material. This minimises the requirement for the addition of lime and decreases the risk of acid mine drainage issues.
Lower doses of cement plus minimal crushing requirements are also forecast for processing.
The test work was completed by ALS Laboratories on six reverse circulation composite samples, weighing a total of 570 kilograms representing various weathering, oxidation and rock types from within the Crawford gold resource.
The highly encouraging met test results come just three months after Cavalier uncovered a new mineralised corridor stretching over 500m between the existing Crawford resource and the recently discovered Miranda prospect.
Standout intercepts from the second round of drilling included 11m at 2.85 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 71m, including 2m at 5.12g/t from 71m and 1m at 8.64g/t from 81m, with mineralisation still open.
This article was developed in collaboration with Cavalier Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
