Trading Symbol: ADA:TSX; C2Z-Frankfurt
Shares Outstanding: 491,691,616
HALIFAX, Nov. 18 /CNW/ - Acadian Mining Corporation (TSX: ADA) ("Acadian" or the "Company") announced today that it has received a final metallurgical report from SGS Lakefield Research Limited (Lakefield) on a test program for the recovery of gold from its 100% owned Beaver Dam project. Results of the program were excellent, showing that a gold recovery process comprising gravity separation plus cyanidation or flotation of tails should achieve in excess of 97% recovery. In addition, column tests showed that Beaver Dam gold mineralization is amenable to heap leaching with a recovery of 90% in 49 days for material crushed to - 1/8 inch.
The metallurgical test program examined the response of samples to a variety of gold extraction processes, including gravity separation, bottle roll and column cyanide leaching and flotation, and grindability testing. The test material comprised 1403.5 kg of PQ diamond drill core from three shallow drill holes drilled specifically for the metallurgical test programs.
Metallurgical testing highlights are as follows:
Gravity and Gravity Tailing Cyanidation Testing
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The results show that a combination of direct gravity separation and tailing cyanidation should achieve approximately 98% gold extraction.
The gravity testwork indicated a high proportion of gravity recoverable free gold with recoveries ranging between 72% to 85% from five, 120 kg batch tests using a Knelson MD-3 concentrator. The average gold recovery by gravity for the total 600 kgs tested was 82%. The gravity tailings from each test were individually cyanide leached and yielded excellent results with 83% to 93% gold extraction with very low cyanide consumptions of 0.07 to 0.13 kg/tonne of feed. The cyanide leach tailings assayed 0.04 g/t gold on average.
Calculated head grades of the five batch tests were 0.90 g/t, 1.69 g/t, 1.40 g/t, 1.87 g/t and 1.10 g/t gold, for an average of 1.39 g/t gold.
Column Heap Leach Testing
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Column heap leaching tests were conducted on 350 kg of material in four batches; one of 200 kg sized at -1/2 inch; three of 50 kg sized at -1/2 inch, -1/4 inch and -1/8 inch. The -1/4 inch and -1/8 inch fractions were each generated from -1/2 inch material crushed to pass the respective screen sizes. Gold extractions overall were very good with a final extraction ranging from 64% in 83 days for the coarsest fraction, -1/2, to 92.4% in 94 days for the finest fraction, -1/8 inch. Gold extractions was quickest in the -1/8 inch, fraction, with 73.8% recovered in only 21 days and 90.3% after 49 days. Calculated head grades for this test material were 1.30 g/t, 1.50 g/t and 1.71 g/t for the -1/2 inch, 1/4 inch and -1/8 inch fractions respectively and averaged 1.40 g/t.
Gravity Tailings Flotation Testing
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The results show that a combination of direct gravity separation (average recovery of 82%), and tailing flotation should achieve greater than 97% total gold extraction. A rougher kinetic test conducted on a 2 kg sample from the gravity test tailings yielded a gold recovery of 86% and a float tailing assay of 0.05 g/t gold. A gold recovery of 75.1% was achieved in the first rougher concentrate, representing 3.7% of the total feed mass.
Bond Ball Mill Grindability Testing
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A Bond ball mill grindability test (BWI - Bond Work Index) was performed with a closing screen of 100 mesh (150 microns) on the Overall Acadian Ore Composite samples. The results of 13.4 kWh/t (metric) for the sample fell into an intermediate range of hardness when compared to the "SGS Grinding Specialists" database.
Management's Opinion
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Will Felderhof, President and CEO, stated, "Overall, the metallurgical testwork demonstrated that excellent gold recoveries can be expected at Beaver Dam utilizing gravity, standard cyanidation and flotation processes. With the deposit metallurgy proving to be relatively simple, future efforts at Beaver Dam can focus on undertaking a preliminary financial evaluation of a potential open pit based on current resources and additional infill and exploration drilling. The potential for heap leaching will be further investigated as this would likely support a larger potential pit shell hosting more ounces of gold at a lower cut-off grade than would a conventional milling scenario."
Other
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Terence F. Coughlan, P. Geo., is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed the technical information reported in this news release for accuracy. A copy of the full report will be filed on SEDAR and posted on the Company's website.
Forward Looking Statement
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Certain information regarding Acadian contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Acadian believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Acadian cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond Acadian's control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Acadian currently foresees. Discussion of the various factors that may affect future results is contained in Acadian's Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2009, which is available at www.sedar.com. Acadian's forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
About Acadian
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Acadian is a Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada based mining company with five advanced gold projects, all of which host National Instrument 43-101 compliant resources. The Company also owns a zinc-lead mine (Scotia Mine) at Gays River, Nova Scotia, which is currently on care and maintenance. Acadian is actively exploring and developing its gold, zinc-lead, and barite properties in Atlantic Canada. Acadian holds a 29.18% interest in Royal Roads Corp. (RRO-TSX-V), which is actively exploring in Newfoundland and Labrador with a current focus on the historic Buchans Camp.
Additional Information
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For additional information on Acadian's properties and activities, please visit our web site at www.acadianmining.com.
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the contents of this
release.