VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scorpio Gold Corporation (“Scorpio Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX-V:SGN) announces its operating results for the third quarter (“Q3”) of 2017 at its 70% owned Mineral Ridge project, located in Nevada.
Production at Mineral Ridge in Q3 2017 totalled 4,935 ounces of gold and 2,588 ounces of silver compared to 9,981 ounces of gold and 4,630 ounces of silver in Q3 of 2016. Gold and silver production for the first nine months of 2017 totalled 15,336 ounces of gold and 7,947 ounces of silver, representing decreases of 46.3% and 38.3%, respectively, over the same period in 2016. The lower metal production is attributed to fewer tons being mined and processed as a result of the decreasing size of the Mary LC and Brodie pits and slower mining rates as current production in these pits winds down.
Current mining is expected to continue through the first week of November 2017, at which time mining will be suspended while evaluations are conducted by Mine Technical Services (“MTS”) on the mine’s remaining internal resources for a NI-43-101 compliant resource and reserve estimate and updated mine plan. Based on the positive results from the recently completed feasibility study, the Company intends to pursue financing for the construction of a 4,000 TPD milling facility with CIL recovery and dry stack tailings circuit. The Company also intends to add additional run of mine resources, when confirmed by MTS, to the already confirmed heap leach resource for processing and recovery of the contained precious metals. Construction of the milling facility will begin once financing is obtained and the Plan of Operations Amendment and Water Pollution Control permit are approved and issued. Permit approval is expected in early 2018.
The Company will provide further updates on its Q4 activities at Mineral Ridge in due course.
Key Operating Statistics
| Three months ending September 30 |
Nine months ending September 30 |
|||||||
| 2017 | 2016 | Change | 2017 | 2016 | Change | |||
| Mining operations | ||||||||
| Mary LC pit | ||||||||
| Ore tonnes mined | 61,555 | 119,574 | -48.5 | % | 315,242 | 405,241 | -22.2 | % |
| Waste tonnes mined | 309,207 | 919,556 | -66.4 | % | 1,805,218 | 2,542,039 | -29.0 | % |
| Total mined | 370,762 | 1,039,130 | -64.3 | % | 2,120,460 | 2,947,280 | -28.1 | % |
| Strip Ratio | 5.0 | 7.7 | -35.1 | % | 5.7 | 6.3 | -9.5 | % |
| Satellite pits | ||||||||
| Ore tonnes mined | 19,074 | 48,029 | -60.3 | % | 54,564 | 190,774 | -71.4 | % |
| Waste tonnes mined | 360,403 | 152,883 | 135.7 | % | 551,254 | 519,603 | 6.1 | % |
| Total mined | 379,477 | 200,912 | 88.9 | % | 605,818 | 710,377 | -14.7 | % |
| Strip Ratio | 18.9 | 3.2 | 490.6 | % | 10.1 | 2.7 | 274.1 | % |
| Total producing pits | ||||||||
| Ore tonnes mined | 80,629 | 167,603 | -51.9 | % | 369,806 | 596,015 | -38.0 | % |
| Waste tonnes mined | 669,610 | 1,072,439 | -37.6 | % | 2,356,472 | 3,061,642 | -23.0 | % |
| Total mined | 750,239 | 1,240,042 | -39.5 | % | 2,726,278 | 3,657,657 | -25.5 | % |
| Strip Ratio | 8.3 | 6.4 | 29.7 | % | 6.4 | 5.1 | 25.5 | % |
| Pits under development | ||||||||
| Ore tonnes mined | - | - | - | 772 | - | 100.0 | % | |
| Waste tonnes mined (pre-stripping) | - | 25,876 | -100.0 | % | 249,085 | 149,230 | 66.9 | % |
| Total mined | - | 25,876 | -100.0 | % | 249,857 | 149,230 | 67.4 | % |
| Total mining operations | ||||||||
| Ore tonnes mined | 80,629 | 167,603 | -51.9 | % | 370,578 | 596,015 | -37.8 | % |
| Waste tonnes mined | 669,610 | 1,098,315 | -39.0 | % | 2,605,557 | 3,210,872 | -18.9 | % |
| Total mined | 750,239 | 1,265,918 | -40.7 | % | 2,976,135 | 3,806,887 | -21.8 | % |
| Processing | ||||||||
| Tonnes processed | 78,759 | 176,901 | -55.5 | % | 368,636 | 704,039 | -47.6 | % |
| Gold head grade (g/t) | 1.34 | 1.35 | -0.7 | % | 1.54 | 1.45 | 6.2 | % |
| Ounces produced | ||||||||
| Gold | 4,935 | 9,981 | -50.6 | % | 15,336 | 28,578 | -46.3 | % |
| Silver | 2,588 | 4,630 | -44.1 | % | 7,947 | 12,876 | -38.3 | % |
| Crusher throughput (tonnes per day) | 856 | 1,923 | -55.5 | % | 1,350 | 2,569 | -47.5 | % |
| Recoverable(1) gold (ounces) placed on pad | 2,299 | 5,215 | -55.9 | % | 12,456 | 22,249 | -44.0 | % |
(1) A weighted average metallurgical recovery factor has been applied to the estimated contained ounces crushed and placed on the leach pad based on the pit from which the ore was mined.
About Scorpio Gold
Scorpio Gold holds a 70% interest in the producing Mineral Ridge gold mining operation located in Esmeralda County, Nevada with joint venture partner Elevon, LLC (30%). Mineral Ridge is a conventional open pit mining and heap leach operation. Current mining is expected to continue through the first week of November 2017 and the Company intends to proceed with financing and construction of a mill facility for the processing of the heap leach resource and expected run of mine resources upon permit approval. The Mineral Ridge property is host to multiple gold-bearing structures, veins and lenses at exploration, development and production stages. Scorpio Gold also holds a 100% interest in the advanced exploration-stage Goldwedge property in Manhattan, Nevada, with a fully permitted underground mine and 400 ton per day mill facility. The Goldwedge mill facility has been placed on a care and maintenance basis and can be restarted immediately when needed.
Scorpio Gold’s Chairman, Peter J. Hawley, PGeo, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the content of this release.
