US Gold Corp. anticipates its CK project’s gold and copper will be readily marketable

Management reported that metallurgical testing at the project site has produced a gold and copper concentrate desirable to smelter-refinery operators due to the quality of its gold and copper content and absence of some of the common penalty elements. The concentrates will be shipped off-site to a smelter for further processing and blending with other concentrates. Metal extraction that takes place off-site at an established smelter is an indication that very few chemicals are utilised at site. Additionally, there will be no emissions at the site associated with smelting and refining.

Kevin Francis, Vice President of Exploration and Technical Services, said:

“We have done extensive testing and are pleased with the metallurgical work completed to date on the sample concentrate analysis. It was a pleasure to work with Michael Mason, a 45-year veteran of the smelting and refining business, who has been assisting us with recommendations for marketing the CK Gold Project concentrate and providing insight to its value. Mr. Mason has operated smelters and traded concentrates to meet smelter demands and his expertise has served to be invaluable.”

Mr. Mason, in commenting on the CK Gold Project concentrate sample, said:

“With a high relative level of gold content in the copper concentrate, the absence of arsenic and very low levels of other deleterious elements such as mercury, I expect that CK Gold Project concentrate will be a desirable feedstock to smelters always on the lookout for material that will enhance options for production. The gangue minerals in the CK Gold Project concentrate have favourable characteristics as a flux medium further adding to the desirability of the concentrate.”

The project’s mineral processing facility is composed of a jaw crusher, semi-autogenous and ball mill grind with froth floatation and cleaning. The nominal throughput rate for the facility is 20 000 tpd and on average, approximately 170 tpd of concentrated product is projected to be generated for sale to North American or overseas customers. During operation, the mine anticipates shipping over 450 000 t of sulfide concentrate off-site for refining. The filtered sulfide concentrate is anticipated to include less than 10% moisture content and solids containing copper, gold, and silver-bearing minerals.

Based on extensive metallurgical test work, the sulfide concentrate will be a clean product that will be in demand for its high gold content and lack of deleterious metals. The exact metal content will vary over the mine life, but on average, per the company’s prefeasibility study, the concentrate will contain approximately 19% copper, 1.5 oz/t gold and 1.7 oz/t silver. The balance of concentrate mass will be made up of chalcopyrite and gangue minerals, such as quartz. This composition, together with the near total absence of any deleterious elements, makes the concentrate an attractive product for sale in very well-established international markets. The copper market is expected to remain strong – bolstered by ongoing demand for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other CO₂ mitigating technologies.

Final offtake contracts have yet to be settled, but the project anticipates sales to one of a number of domestic copper smelters, which means that transportation of product by road is viable. The nearest facility is the Kennecott Utah smelter, near Salt Lake City, Utah, and this is the most logical destination for the product. Other facilities are located in Arizona and eastern Canada.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/24032023/us-gold-corp-anticipates-its-ck-projects-gold-and-copper-will-be-readily-marketable/