Sulliden Reports 89% Gold Recovery From Heap Leach Test Program at Shahuindo

• Gold recovery of 89% obtained from column tests
• Material demonstrated rapid leach characteristics, with 85% of gold recovered in first 20 days
• The positive metallurgical results will be used to complete the Feasibility Study
• Joe Milbourne, Vice-President of Operations and Technical Services, commented, “These metallurgical results confirm excellent gold recoveries for our planned heap leach project. The comprehensive testing included both HQ and larger diameter PQ cores, located in areas where large-scale surface bulk sample testing had been conducted in 2003 and 2004. We are extremely pleased to be able to confirm excellent gold recoveries from all rock types along the length of the deposit and to the depth of the oxidation at Shahuindo.”

Samples from 16 holes drilled from surface through the full depth of oxidation occurring in the current 3.8 kilometre Central Corridor were collected for testing (See Figure 1 for drill hole locations). The depth of oxidized material in the Central Corridor averages 110 metres from surface. Both PQ (85mm) and HQ (63.5mm) sized core representing all five rock types were collected for testing (Brecciated sediment, non-silicified terrigenous sediment and silicified sandstone / fine grained sandstone represent 95% of the contained gold / silver ounces in the mineral resource. Samples from the overburden and porphyry were also tested.).

The eight HQ samples underwent crushing to a -1″ size for rolling bottle leach tests. A series of column leach tests were then conducted, also at a -1″ crush size, to predict the leach pad performance. The eight larger diameter PQ sized samples were used to characterize the metallurgical response at a coarser crush size of -1 ½”, and up to -3″. The overall results indicate that the oxide material is very amenable to gold recovery through heap leaching and cyanidation, with an average column leach cycle of approximately 60 days, of which 85% of the gold is recovered in the first 20 days. Column tests on oxide material returned silver recovery of 15%.

The results from this metallurgical test program will be used to complete of the Feasibility Study, currently underway by Kappes, Cassiday and Associates in Reno, Nevada.

The test results reported in this news release were performed by Kappes, Cassiday & Associates in Reno, Nevada, and have been reviewed by Joe Milbourne, VP Operations and Technical Services of Sulliden, who is a “Qualified Person” as defined under National Instrument 43-101.

Read the full news release here. Image from Sulliden Gold.