Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX:XAM) has received preliminary test work on diamond core from shallow oxide gold mineralisation at the Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia.
Gold recoveries of up to 92.56% have been achieved in gravity and leach tests on samples from the Golden Eagle target within Kharmagtai.
Gold mineralisation at Golden Eagle is hosted in the oxide cap above a deeper and significantly larger copper-gold porphyry.
In addition to the metallurgical test work results, an Exploration Target has been estimated for eight gold targets across the Kharmagtai lease, of which, Golden Eagle is one target.
READ: Xanadu Mines reveals new gold-rich porphyry zone at Mongolian project, shares up
Xanadu’s managing director and CEO Dr Andrew Stewart said “These early stage gravity and bottle roll results on composite samples from Golden Eagle are outstanding.
“The above-average results, achieved at a moderate grind size, indicate high gold recoveries.
“Standard crushing, grinding and leaching is all that will be required to extract gold from the oxide cap mineralisation at Golden Eagle.
Just scratched the surface of the resource potential
“While further drilling is required across the resource as the project advances, previous intersections of significant widths of shallow oxide mineralisation in bedrock drilling highlight the potential and show that we have literally just scratched the surface in terms of the broader resource potential.
“Further, it represents the opportunity for a low cost, high-value gold leach operation which could be run early in the development life of Kharmagtai, injecting significant cash into the project to offset the cost of developing a large-scale copper-gold mine.
“These positive metallurgical test results provide more confidence, with drilling underway to expand the resource by targeting shallow gold mineralisation above the current copper and gold resources.”
Exploration Target estimated
The new Exploration Target and metallurgical tests confirm the presence of significant, leachable oxide gold at Golden Eagle, one of eight zones known to contain significant shallow oxide gold mineralisation.
Seven other zones also contain significant shallow oxide gold mineralisation and provide project optionality and support for the company’s ongoing exploration strategy at Kharmagtai.
Proactive caught up with Xanadu last month for an update on the Kharmagtai Project
