Excellent results with >98% gold recoveries from preliminary test work - Morning Star Gold Mine 

White Rock Minerals Limited (ASX: WRM; OTCQX:WRMCF) (‘White Rock’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to report results from metallurgical test work demonstrating excellent gold recoveries of more than 98% from its Morning Star Gold Mine, part of its broader 660km2 Woods Point Gold Project, located in eastern Victoria.

Highlights

• White Rock’s Morning Star Underground Gold Mine gold recoveries averages over 98% in latest metallurgical test work.
• Test work is aimed at extracting even more gold and boosting gold recoveries and gold produced at the Morning Star Underground Gold Mine prior to conversion into gold doré bars for sale.
• White Rock’s fully permitted and functional gravity gold processing plant has previously achieved gold recoveries of about 80%.
• Morning Star is in the commissioning phase, processing initial parcels of low-grade material through the gold processing plant as White Rock continues underground development.
• Gold production is expected to ramp up over the next two quarters.

“These gold recovery results are exceptional and the Company is now going to progress this to assess its commercial potential for a low capital cost opportunity to increase gold recoveries from around 80% to over 95%. ”

Matt Gill, CEO of White Rock Minerals

Matt Gill also added: 

"Given the low volume but very-high grade nature of the anticipated material to be fed into the existing gravity gold processing plant, any incremental improvement in gold recovery goes straight to our bottom line. We want to squeeze as much gold out of this high-value rock as we can, safely and environmentally responsibly. A key part of the next phase will be whether to conduct this gold extraction step on-site or offsite."

White Rock engaged Gekko Systems to conduct comparative gravity tabling and intensive leaching test work on samples with varying particle size. Four samples were sent to Gekko for initial assaying with two samples chosen to continue with the test work.

The purpose of the test work was to obtain data to inform current plant operating parameters and give guidance to future potential processing options. To achieve these goals the test work program specifically aimed to:

• To determine if there are negative effects to gravity gold recovery from increased particle size. An increase in particle size could take some of the workload and pressure off the previously problematic VSI crushing unit.
• To determine the amenability of a gravity produced concentrate to intensive leaching using cyanide. Increased gold recoveries significantly improve revenues for a low capital and operating cost and would be preferable to be done in-state, rather than shipped as a concentrate overseas. 

Both samples processed through this test work demonstrated a high amenability to gravity gold recovery techniques and to intensive cyanidation. The average gold head grade of the samples selected from underground ranged between 33 and 52 g/t gold.

✓ Gravity gold recoveries (using a Wilfley table) of greater than 80% in less than 10% of the mass of material was achieved, and

✓ Excellent gold recoveries of all leached samples, using the LeachWELL™ bottle roll test to extract the cyanide soluble gold, delivered a total recovery of greater than 99%.

Gold production continues on track during Q3 2022, moving White Rock into the league of gold

View the full announcement here.

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