Nov 8 2012
Xmet Inc. ("Xmet" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:XME)(OTCQX:XMTTF) is pleased to report the results of a mineralogical study (Geomet Study) carried out by Terra Mineralogical Services Inc. on samples collected from the mineralized zones on the Duquesne-Ottoman Property.
"We are very pleased with the results of this study because it indicates that the gold mineralization at Duquesne-Ottoman occurs as free gold and is not associated with arsenic, nor is it refractory", commented Charles Beaudry, the President and CEO of Xmet, adding that "the gold occurs mainly at grain boundaries so it may be easily liberated by a moderate fine primary grind. We also have the option of floating and regrinding the sulphides to increase our overall recoveries. The great thing about these conclusions is that they come from the study of 35 polished sections made from samples collected throughout the mineralized zones. Conventional metallurgical testing will be done as the project advances but already we have some idea of our expected gold recoveries and where we could get improvements. Our next goal is to bring the Duquesne District project to a Preliminary Economic Assessment, and this Geomet Study assists us in the conceptualization of the resource processing methodology."
According to the study, the main gold carrier in samples is native gold with silver also present and occurs mainly in electrum and in silver-telluride minerals. Locally the silver-telluride minerals occur as coarse grains ("nuggets") but otherwise the gold as well as the silver is fine grained (between 2.6 to 4.6 microns). Although generally fine grained, the gold occurs at grain boundaries over 90% of the time which suggest that metallurgical recoveries should be excellent provided sufficient grinding is applied to the ore. The study also found a small amount of mercury telluride mineral grains. This will be the subject of more study as the project develops.
Two process routes are suggested by the results. Whole ore cyanide leach after grinding to 55 to 60 microns or alternatively a coarser grind followed by flotation of sulphides and regrinding of sulphides to 8 to 10 microns and cyanidation of the sulphides to liberate some of the gold that occur encapsulated within sulphides mineral grains followed by cyanidation of the sulphides.
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Sampling of drill cores was carried out on site by Terra Mineralogical Services Inc. with the assistance of Xmet geologists. Approximately two inch drill core samples were collected from each of 35 selected intervals from 13 diamond drill holes that intersected one or another of the Fox, Liz, Shaft or South Shaft Zones. Polished thin sections were prepared, and the entire surface of each section was scanned to identify gold-bearing minerals and associated gangue phases.
These results are based on solid data but remain predictions that need to be followed and confirmed by metallurgical testing. More test work is planned for the coming year that will investigate some of the questions raised by this study.
Source: http://www.xmet.ca