Titan Minerals Limited (ASX: TTM) has announced a significant technical milestone at its wholly-owned Dynasty Gold Project in southern Ecuador, confirming excellent gold and silver recoveries through conventional processing methods.
This achievement marks a crucial step as the company advances toward development studies for the project.
Initial metallurgical testwork on sulphide ore has demonstrated gold recoveries exceeding 90 per cent using flotation, oxidation, and cyanidation processes.
Flotation tests produced a rougher concentrate with 94 per cent gold and 95 per cent silver recovery from a composite sample containing 2.13 g/t gold and 16 g/t silver.
Further processing of this concentrate through oxidation and cyanidation achieved an impressive 97 per cent gold recovery, resulting in an overall recovery of 91 per cent for gold.
Notably, the testwork produced a clean, saleable concentrate containing approximately 24 g/t gold and 180 g/t silver, suitable for direct sale to smelters without requiring gravity circuits, as gravity-recoverable gold was found to be minimal.
The testwork was conducted on a sulphide composite sample sourced from the Cerro Verde and Iguana deposits, which host the majority of Dynasty’s substantial 3.1Moz gold resource.
Overseen by Auralia Metallurgy in Perth under metallurgist Ivan Hunter, the study revealed high flotation recoveries of up to 95 per cent for gold and 98 per cent for silver at grind sizes between P80 75µm and 150µm.
Oxidation via autoclave achieved over 99 per cent oxidation within two hours, followed by leaching that returned gold recoveries above 96 per cent.
Titan’s CEO Melanie Leighton expressed satisfaction with the results, stating: “It’s satisfying to show that conventional gold processing techniques can be applied to all Dynasty ores with excellent overall recoveries.
“This is a significant milestone and a key de-risking step as we consider the commencement of development studies at the end of our current resource drilling program.”
She emphasised the Dynasty Gold Project’s potential as a large-scale pre-development opportunity poised to benefit from favorable gold market conditions.
The Dynasty Gold Project spans five contiguous concessions across 139 square kilometres and includes a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource of 3.1Moz gold and 22Moz silver.
Mineralisation occurs within an extensive epithermal vein system with potential for porphyry copper-gold at depth.
The project benefits from existing environmental permits and proximity to infrastructure.
Titan Minerals plans to continue metallurgical testing to optimise processing flowsheets while advancing resource definition drilling.
An updated Mineral Resource Estimate is expected by mid-2025, followed by scoping and development studies incorporating metallurgical and mining data.
These efforts underline Titan’s commitment to unlocking the full potential of the Dynasty Gold Project as it progresses toward production.
