Victoria's High Grade Olive Zone is Heap Leachable
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - August 07, 2015) - Victoria Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE: VIT)"Victoria" or the "Company" is pleased to report strong heap leach recoveries and kinetic results from the Phase 2 column metallurgical test work completed as part of the Olive exploration program. The Olive Zone is adjacent to Victoria's Eagle gold deposit on the Dublin Gulch property, Yukon Canada.
As previously announced, the Olive Phase 1 metallurgical testing, conducted by Kappes Cassidy & Associates of Reno ('KCA'), included 96-hour bottle roll tests and 3 initial column tests. The bottle roll tests resulted in an average recovery of 61% at a P80 6.3mm crush size to match the crushing plant planned for the Eagle gold deposit. Initial column testing averaged 69% gold recovery with over 80% of the total gold recovered in the first 30 days, demonstrating very favourable leaching kinetics (see Victoria news release dated February 24, 2015).
The remaining 6 of 9 Olive Zone column leach tests confirm better than expected recoveries. Recoveries averaged 68% for oxide material and 57% for transitional and sulphide material. These results confirm favourable leaching kinetics from earlier testing which showed that, when using the same crush size as proposed at the Eagle gold project, over 80% of the total gold is recovered within the first 30 days.
These new metallurgical data have validated Victoria's initial thesis that Olive, displaying lower recovery but significantly higher grade than Eagle, may materially improve overall Eagle economics. Mr. John McConnell, President and CEO of Victoria commented "The metallurgical results from the Olive program demonstrate that the high grade Olive mineralization is amenable to heap leaching and displays the upside potential of the entire 13 km long Potato Hills Trend which could prove to be a long-term complement to the existing Eagle deposit and Eagle mining camp."
Victoria completed one additional metallurgical test for the Shamrock zone, contiguous to the north of the Olive Zone, and believed to be part of the same mineralized system. The 96-hour bottle roll test resulted in recoveries of 89% at a crush size of P80 6.3mm (equivalent to Eagle) and 93% recovery at a grind size of 73 microns. These initial results are significantly higher than those observed at Olive. Column test work for Shamrock has not yet been initiated.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Paul D. Gray, P.Geo., as the Qualified Person.
About Olive
The Olive Zone target is defined by a broad gold/arsenic in-soils geochemical anomaly and lies on the intrusive-sediment contact of the Potato Hills Trend (as does the Eagle Deposit) and is punctuated by several historically exploited high-grade sulphide veins. The Olive area was mined on a small scale from shallow shafts and adits in the early 1900's and via placer mining in creeks draining the area. The Olive vein system is located near the top of Olive Gulch and consists of gold-bearing quartz-scorodite-arsenopyrite vein material centralized in a shear zone structure.
About the Dublin Gulch Project
Victoria Gold's 100%-owned Dublin Gulch gold property is situated in the central Yukon Territory, Canada, approximately 375 kilometers north of the capital city of Whitehorse, and approximately 85 kilometers from the town of Mayo. The Property is accessible by road year-round, and is located within Yukon Energy's electrical grid. The Company has constructed and maintains a 100 person all-season camp at the project site.
The Property covers an area of approximately 555 square kilometers, and is the site of the Company's Eagle Gold Deposit. The Eagle Gold Deposit is expected to be Yukon's next operating gold mine and includes Probable Reserves of 2.3 million ozs of gold from 92 million tonnes of ore with a grade of 0.78 grams of gold per tonne, as outlined in a National Instrument 43-101 definitive feasibility study. The NI 43-101 Mineral Resource has been estimated to host 222 million tonnes averaging 0.68 grams of gold per tonne, containing 4.9 million ounces of gold in the "Indicated" category, inclusive of Probable Reserves, and a further 78 million tonnes averaging 0.60 grams of gold per tonne, containing 1.5 million ounces of gold in the "Inferred" category.
Cautionary Language and Forward-Looking Statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this discussion, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities, anticipated metal production, internal rate of return, estimated ore grades, commencement of production estimates and projected exploration and capital expenditures (including costs and other estimates upon which such projections are based) and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include metal prices, exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Contact
For Further Information Contact:
John McConnell
President & CEO
Victoria Gold Corp.
Tel: 416-866-8800
Fax: 416-866-8801
www.vitgoldcorp.com