Metallurgical test work by Strickland Metals at its Horse Well gold camp in Western Australia’s northeastern goldfields has notched up whopping gold recovery rates of up to 88.6 per cent.
Perth-based ALS Metallurgy used six composite rock samples from the company’s Palomino deposit for the metallurgical study. The results were verified by MineScope Services.
The findings showed the mineralised dirt is highly amenable to a bog-standard process of three-stage crushing, followed by gravity and then cyanide leach processing.
To provide a comprehensive set of results, the tests were conducted over a range of gold grades varying from 1.16 grams per tonne (g/t) to 6.19g/t.
Initially, a simple gravity process was used to determine a basic recovery rate, which came in at 16.6 per cent to 32.5 per cent.
When cyanide leaching was added, the recovery rate was pushed up to an impressive range from 78.5 per cent to 88.6 per cent.
Management says the analysis also confirmed the samples showed little sign of carbon, arsenic or silver content. This should significantly reduce the risk of gold loss from preg-robbing – a phenomenon where gold can stick to these elements during the cyanidation process.
Dialling down the cyanide levels to between 0.25 kilograms per tonne (kg/t) and 0.32kg/t, while boosting recoveries, has scored the company a win in gold - and cost control.
Strickland Metals managing director Paul L’Herpiniere said: “By completing metallurgical test work of fresh ore we have successfully de-risked future development including drilling that will target high-grade extensions to the Warmblood and Palomino deposits at depth and down plunge.”
Positioned within Strickland’s broader Yandal gold project, the Horse Well gold camp spans 70 square kilometres of prospective greenstone rock along the Celia shear zone. It is 50km north of Northern Star Resources’ huge 10-million-ounce Jundee gold project.
As big as the potential for discovery is, only 26 per cent of the drilling in the region has gone below 100 metres so far, leaving substantial opportunities for further treasures to be unearthed.
In efforts to rapidly build its resource and hot on the heels of a 20,000-metre reverse circulation and diamond drilling campaign last year, Strickland has now kicked off a similar sized drill campaign for 2025.
Exploration drilling is planned to target deeper and down-plunge extensions of the Warmblood and Palomino deposits and to put more holes into its exciting intrusion-related Dusk ‘til Dawn gold prospect.
Numerous new targets have also been identified at Horse Well, including the Marwari, Bronco and Konik prospects.
When proven up, these prospects should add valuable ounces to the already defined Warmblood, Palomino and Dusk ‘til Dawn deposits, which span a 3km strike and currently host a combined resource of 257,000 gold ounces.
The company says it expects to release an updated resource for Horse Well in the next few weeks, which it will follow up with mining lease applications.
Strickland’s ability to fast track exploration at site is mainly because the company is still sitting on a big chunk of the proceeds from the sale of the next-door Millrose deposit to Northern Star Resources for $61 million in 2023.
The company remains well cashed-up, even after accounting for two years’ worth of aggressive exploration drilling at both Horse Well and its rapidly growing 6.5m-ounce gold equivalent Rogozna metals project in Serbia.
With the results of initial metallurgical testing now proving up high gold recovery rates and the project’s scalable processing potential, Strickland appears well-positioned to rapidly grow the size of the resource as it aims to turn Horse Well into a significant standalone WA gold asset.
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By James Pearson
