Construction of the first leaching pad at the Picacho gold project of joint venture partners Kaaba Resources and Alawas Gold in Imperial Cty., Calif., is progressing on schedule. The leaching pad and processing plant will be completed late in January, l988, Kaaba President John Wishart reports.
The company has decided to increase the initial test pad from 10,000 tons to 20,000 tons to a height of 10 ft, thus allowing additional material to be piled to a height of 30 ft on the same pad.
It is not yet known what gold recoveries will result from the leaching process as the micro-sized nugget form of deposit shows differing assays when rechecked, which range from a low of 0.02 oz to a high of 0.152 oz gold per ton. Additional sampling and assaying will be done as the material is piled onto the pad to determine a closer average grade. Production costs are estimated at $125 an oz, Wishart says. A decision on future production will be made based on results from this test pad.
Drilling on the property has been temporarily delayed to allow completion of the leaching pad, water lines and for local regulatory body requirements to be met.
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