Canada-based Novo Resources has entered a commercial arrangement with mining and minerals services provider SGS Minerals of Perth, Western Australia, to secure access to a test plant for the processing of five 1t bulk samples from Karratha Gold Project.
The company has 100% interest in around 6,021km² of mineral rights in the Karratha region.
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It is reported that in gold systems containing a high nugget effect, the statistical impact of this means that a relatively large sample size is required to ensure the resultant assay grade is better representative of the surrounding material.
In ongoing trenching works at the Karratha gold project, Novo will be excavating a series of five 1t bulk samples.
The company noted that samples to date have mostly been in the range of around 300kg, with processing of these through conventional laboratories having proven time-consuming and costly, providing indicative grades only for each sample.
Novo CEO and director Rob Humphryson said: “Establishing this test plant facility is expected to be a game-changer for our exploration efforts at Karratha.
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By GlobalData“Having a fit-for-purpose, certified test plant suited to ascertaining the head grade of larger-sized samples whilst also providing gold deportment information is key to gaining a better understanding of the Karratha gold project.”
SGS Minerals’ test plant is an upgraded version of a fit for purpose and pre-existing test plant in Perth, which has been previously utilised for sample analysis.
The plant consists of a comminution circuit followed by gravity separation processes, generating a series of gold concentrates for subsequent assay.
According to the company, works will be overseen by the existing scrutineering regime in an ISO 9001 accredited laboratory environment, ensuring sample integrity from the field to the plant, with all analysis completed at the SGS Laboratory facility in Perth.
The test plant has been designed to preserve and analyse gold particle sizing for use in geostatistical testing.
The samples will be transported from Karratha to the test plant, where it is expected that up to three samples a week will be processed, with an expected four-week turnaround time to receive grade results.
The company noted that this process is significantly faster than the average eight-week turnaround experienced to date.
