Waratah Minerals has reported highly promising results from its Consols Zone within the Spur Project in New South Wales, demonstrating gold recovery rates exceeding 89 per cent.
Initial laboratory test work on composite samples yielded total gold recoveries ranging between 89 and 93 per cent using a combination of traditional gravity separation and conventional leaching techniques.
The preliminary tests confirmed the presence of coarse, free-milling gold, with individual grain sizes reaching up to 601 micrometres.
Gravity recovery returned between 4 and 24 per cent, averaging 15 per cent, while conventional cyanidation added a further 68 to 86 per cent recovery.
Diagnostic studies revealed that an average of only 5 per cent of gold was tied up in sulphides, with a negligible 0.4 per cent trapped inside silicates.
Managing Director Peter Duerden noted that the geometallurgical results from Consols closely mirror early metallurgical findings from the nearby Spur Zone reported earlier this year.
“These results are informing an ongoing comprehensive geometallurgical program which will determine grind optimisation, comminution characteristics and the other critical parameters to define the optimal processing pathway for the gold mineralisation,” Duerden said.
The testing campaign combined micro-X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF) core scanning with traditional leach tests across bulk samples.
High-resolution scans across 25 representative diamond drill core samples detected 408 distinct gold grains. Optical microscopy on the gravity concentrates subsequently verified the presence of coarse gold grains measuring up to 300 micrometres.
The outcomes are shaping an ongoing, broader geometallurgical program aimed at refining grind optimisation, comminution parameters, and processing options for the project.
Further testing is currently underway across three bulk master composites and 20 variability samples to establish a unified mineral processing flowsheet for both the Spur and Consols zones.
