Northern Vertex Increases Production for Third Consecutive Month Reporting 2,868 Gold Equivalent Ounces for May and Provides Operational Update
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VANCOUVER, June 11, 2019 - Northern Vertex Mining Corp. (TSX.V: NEE) (OTC Nasdaq Intl.: NHVCF) (the "Company" or "Northern Vertex") is pleased to announce, for the third consecutive month, increased gold and silver production totaling 2,868 gold equivalent ounces (2,655 oz gold and 14,940 oz silver) during May from the Moss Gold Mine, located in Northwest Arizona. See table below for details of operating results for May 2019, April 2019 and Nine Months ended March 31, 2019.
Kenneth Berry, President and CEO, states: "We are pleased with the continued increase in gold and silver production at the Moss Mine. Building on the achievements realized by our operational team over the past few months, yields have significantly improved and are reflected in the increased gold and silver production. In addition, we have now stacked more than 30,703 oz's of contained gold which sits in inventory on the leach pad. Based on metallurgical work from our original 125,000 tonne pilot heap, our feasibility and from a recently established column testing program, we believe we will recover in the range of 24,000 to 26,000 ounces of gold from our heap inventory over the coming months, in addition to ounces placed on the pad each month."
Operating Results for May 2019, April 2019 and Nine Months Ended Year to Date:
One Month Ended May 31, 2019 | One Month Ended April 30, 2019 | Nine Months Ended March 31, 2019(1) | |
Mining | |||
Ore mined (tonnes) | 143,580 | 146,555 | 1,423,890 |
Waste mined (tonnes) | 445,946 | 520,733 | 2,608,396 |
Total mined (tonnes) | 589,526 | 667,289 | 4,032,286 |
Strip ratio (waste/ore) | 3.11 | 3.55 | 1.83 |
Crushing | |||
Tonnes stacked | 196,803 | 182,824 | 1,546,967 |
Tonnes stacked per day (average) | 6,348 | 6,094 | 5,646 |
Tonnes stacked per operating day | 7,569 | 8,310 | 8,490 |
Tonnes stacked per operating hour | 432 | 447 | 453 |
Contained gold ounces stacked | 3,800 | 4,643 | 35,501 |
Contained silver ounces stacked | 68,515 | 66,060 | 514,179 |
Gold grade (g/t) | 0.60 | 0.79 | 0.71 |
Silver grade(g/t) | 10.83 | 11.24 | 10.34 |
Processing | |||
Merrill Crowe recovery – gold (%) | 78 | 79 | 81 |
Merrill Crowe recovery – silver (%) | 89 | 92 | 93 |
Gold ounces produced | 2,655 | 2,247 | 16,829 |
Silver ounces produced | 14,940 | 12,885 | 67,204 |
Sales | |||
Gold ounces sold | 2,585 | 1,742 | 17,010 |
Silver ounces sold | 9,851 | 6,236 | 49,796 |
(1) Includes pre-commercial production results |
Operations Team:
Our strength is our people. Commencing in March, daily production and weekly staff meetings were implemented which have resulted in improvements in all aspects of our operation. Site safety and production goals are communicated to all employees and production data is shared in real time through daily reports and on information boards. In addition, the Company is investing in its team, with the initiation of an internationally recognized training program for all Supervisors and Managers.
The Company is also pleased to announce the following additions to our Operating Team:
General Manager
- Joel Murphy was appointed as the Company's new General Manager at Moss. Mr. Murphy is a proven leader, who cultivates a collaborative team approach while implementing measurable goals. He has a broad range of experience in all aspects of mining, processing, crushing and project management He has managed expansion projects up to $750 million. and built operating teams in the US and Australia.
Process Manager
- Jim Gubler was appointed to the position of Process Manager. Mr. Gubler's experience in Merrill Crowe processing and heap leach management will be valuable to the Company. Mr. Gubler has made an immediate impact by identifying and implementing several corrective measures to the mine's processing.
Site Maintenance and Crushing Manager
- Kesler Morris was appointed Maintenance Manager in addition to his duties as Crushing Manager. Led by Kesler, the crushing team continues to surpass projections set out in the Feasibility Study. Preventative maintenance programs are now underway in all departments.
Chief Mine Geologist
- Steve Sabo has been appointed Chief Mine Geologist. Steve's guidance and leadership have been called upon throughout the early stages of development. Steve has been instrumental in reworking the current block model in order to ensure we have the most accurate grade control for future mining. As we move forward Steve plans additional improvements to the ore definition and grade control programs.
Senior Engineer
- William Werner has been appointed Senior Engineer. William is a valued team member; whose management of the mining activities are critical to our success. William is responsible for overseeing the mining contractor and overseeing the mine plan.
Exploration Geologist
- Bob Cuffney was appointed Chief Exploration Geologist. Bob's initial focus will be the development and execution of a multi-phased exploration and resource expansion program with the near term priority on resource expansion.
Chief Metallurgist
- Benjamin Garcia was appointed as the Company's Chief Metallurgist. Mr. Garcia brings to the Company over 10 years of experience in laboratory, leach pad, column tests and processing. Mr. Garcia is overseeing the metallurgical program and refinery operations as well as providing support on all site technical issues.
Electrical and Instrumentation Supervisor
- John Hoefle has been appointed Electrical Supervisor. John was instrumental in identifying computer software issues with our Programable Logic Controls (PLC's) which have plagued our clarifying filters since commissioning.
Mining
The Company and its mining contractor, NAD Degerstrom have worked hard to improve product size, highwalls, benches, pit floors, blasting, reporting and safety. All areas are showing improvement. Work continues to improve costs, availability and efficiencies.
Crushing Operations
Our crushing plant has continued to excel. Crushing, agglomeration, and stacking of ore totaled 196,803 dry tonnes, with an hourly average of 432 tonnes per hour. Waste rock was crushed for blast hole stemming material that totaled 5,279 waste tonnes. Process maintenance has been significantly upgraded with the initiation of a preventative inspection and maintenance program.
Leach Pad/ Inventory
To date we have stacked 30,703 ounces of contained gold on the heap leach pad. To confirm gold/silver inventory, the Company has trenched to a depth of 25ft each in six areas of the pad which had not been under leach for 85 days. Initial test work has confirmed there are no dry areas, channeling is not occurring, and the pad is retaining its moisture as expected. Further results are pending. The ongoing column test program (using material derived from the actual hourly crushing sample collection program) show ultimate column recoveries of 80%+ for gold and 60%+ for silver. The Column work on crusher samples and the trench work will be used to optimize and shorten the recovery curves going forward, utilizing live ore panels for testing rather than bulk samples that are used in the feasibility. Every current test being run shows that we can outperform the feasibility curve with live pad conditions set to our column testing protocols.
Merrill Crow/Processing
Our Operations Team has made significant progress in identifying and correcting issues that have hampered the process plant since start up. Modifications to the filter presses, clarifiers and vacuum pump system are underway. These changes are expected to continue to stabilize the daily performance of the plant, increase recovery and result in increased production.
Phase III Mine Plan of Operations ("MPO")
The MPO (Final) was submitted to the Kingman Field Office (KFO) of the BLM on May 22, 2019. There has been a high level of communication between the Company's Environmental Consultants and the BLM Resource Specialists from both the Kingman and Lake Havasu Field Offices to address, explain and mitigate concerns regarding the potential impacts of the Company's proposed expansion onto public lands.
Qualified Person
The foregoing technical information contained in this news release has also been reviewed and verified by Mr. Joseph Bardswich, P.Eng., a director of the Company and a Qualified Person ("QP") for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101 (Disclosure Standards for Mineral Projects).
About Northern Vertex Mining Corp.
Northern Vertex Mining Corp., the newest gold producer in the US, is focused on low cost gold and silver production at its 100% owned Moss Mine in NW Arizona. The Company has experience across all areas of operations, mine development, exploration, acquisitions and financing of mining projects. With operations at the flagship Moss Mine achieving commercial production the Company intends to consolidate additional producing or near-term production gold assets within the Western US. Through mergers and acquisitions Northern Vertex's corporate goal is to become a mid-tier gold producer with over 200,000 ounces of gold production annually.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF NORTHERN VERTEX
"Kenneth Berry"
President & CEO
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.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
This news release contains statements about our future business and planned activities. These are "forward-looking" because we have used what we know and expect today to make a statement about the future. Forward-looking statements including but are not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work and analyses. Forward-looking statements usually include words such as scheduled, may, intend, plan, expect, anticipate, believe or other similar words. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of factors and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, known and unknown, could cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. We believe the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable. However, actual events and results could be substantially different because of the risks and uncertainties associated with our business or events that happen after the date of this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. As a general policy, we do not update forward-looking statements except as required by securities laws and regulations. US investors should be aware that mining terminology used for Canadian mineral project reporting purposes differs significantly from US terminology.
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SOURCE Northern Vertex Mining Corp.
Contact
please visit www.northernvertex.com or contact Investor Relations at: 604-601-3656 or at 1-855-633-8798