TORONTO and VANCOUVER, May 17,
2018 /CNW/ - Minera Alamos Inc. ("Minera Alamos" or the
"Company") (TSX VENTURE:MAI) is pleased to report that it has
now completed the second phase of its bulk testing heap-leach
activities at its 100% owned Santana gold project in Sonora, Mexico. The Company is now performing
a full review of the leaching results as part of if its final
project evaluation prior to making commercial production decisions
for the project.
Over the past year, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Corex
Gold has been conducting continuous bulk heap-leach testing
activities at the Santana gold project in accordance with its
current test mining permit. Following the successful
completion of an initial phase that utilized coarse crushing
(<3") only, the second phase involved fine crushing
(<1.2-5/8') and agglomeration of the same mineralized material
prior to leaching. Ultimate gold recoveries from the
second phase were excellent and consistent with those from the
first phase of testing. Approximately 5860g (~190
oz) of gold were recovered from a total of 9000 tonnes of material
over a three month leach period – 0.65 g/t of recovered
gold. While the use of fine crushing/agglomeration
appears to improve the gold leach kinetics, ultimate recoveries
remained similar to those achieved leaching coarse
material.
"The results from the bulk heap leach testing program over the
past year have been extremely positive. The operation of the
Santana test leaching facilities provides for a significant
de-risking of the project by comparing laboratory scale
metallurgical results to those achieved at a bulk scale under
conditions similar to those envisioned for commercial operations."
stated Darren Koningen, CEO of
Minera Alamos. "To date, the
Company has tested approximately 35,000 tonnes of mineralized
material with ultimate gold recoveries exceeding expectations and
appearing to be consistent over the range of crush sizes
tested. This creates an ideal environment for a robust
commercial heap leaching operation at the Santana project site.
Once a final data review/optimization is completed,
incorporating results from the upcoming drill program announced
earlier this month, the Company expects to target the advancement
of Santana as the first commercial mining operation from our
portfolio of advanced stage gold projects."
As done previously, the second carbon shipment from the test
facility will be shipped later this week for desorption and
precious metals recovery operations at Metals Research Corporation
in Kimberly, Idaho. Final doré is delivered for refining to
Cascade Refining Inc. of Salt Lake
City, Utah.
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Note:
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The Company is not
basing any production decision on a feasibility study of mineral
reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability.
Minera Alamos acknowledges and advises there is increased
uncertainty and that there are specific economic and technical
risks of failure associated with any production decision. The
Company believes the historic experience and track record of senior
management with gold heap leaching and by advancing in careful
prudent steps helps ameliorate possible technical risks.
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About Minera Alamos
Minera Alamos is an advanced
stage exploration and development company. Its growing portfolio of
high-grade Mexican projects includes the La Fortuna open pit gold project in Durango
and the Guadalupe de los Reyes gold/silver project in Sinaloa as well as the now combined
Santana/Los Verdes gold-copper project in Sonora. The Company is well financed to
conduct all of its planned exploration and development activities
and continues to pursue additional project acquisitions in
Latin America.
Mr. Darren Koningen, P. Eng.,
Minera Alamos' CEO, is the Qualified
Person responsible for the technical content of this press release
under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Koningen has supervised the
preparation of, and approved the scientific and technical
disclosures in this news release.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking information and
Minera Alamos cautions readers that
forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and
risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the expectations of Minera
Alamos included in this news release. This news release
includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not
always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes",
"anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would",
"will", or "plan". These statements are based on information
currently available to Minera Alamos
and Minera Alamos provides no
assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations.
Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with
respect to Minera Alamos' future
plans with respect to the Projects, objectives or goals, to the
effect that Minera Alamos or
management expects a stated condition or result to occur and the
expected timing for release of a resource and reserve estimate on
the Projects. Since forward-looking statements are based on
assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very
nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual
results relating to, among other things, results of exploration,
the economics of processing methods, project development,
reclamation and capital costs of Minera
Alamos' mineral properties, the ability to complete a
preliminary economic assessment which supports the technical and
economic viability of mineral production could differ materially
from those currently anticipated in such statements for many
reasons. Minera Alamos' financial
condition and prospects could differ materially from those
currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as:
an inability to finance and/or complete an updated resource and
reserve estimate and a preliminary economic assessment which
supports the technical and economic viability of mineral
production; changes in general economic conditions and conditions
in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for
minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other
judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments;
technological and operational difficulties encountered in
connection with Minera Alamos'
activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in
filings made with securities regulators. This list is not
exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Minera Alamos' forward-looking statements. These
and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should
not place undue reliance on Minera
Alamos' forward-looking statements. Minera Alamos does not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by
Minera Alamos or on its behalf,
except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES
PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX
VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR
ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
SOURCE Minera Alamos Inc.
