Canadian bioleaching technology could get mine test in Australia

Vancouver-based Giant Bay Resources has taken an important step in putting its low-cost bioleaching technology to the test in an actual mining application.

Last week the company signed a joint venture agreement with an Australian gold producer, Balmoral Resources, which gives it the exclusive right to use the technology in Australia. In return, Giant Bay has the right to earn either a 40% working interest, a 20% carried interest or a 5% net smelter return in any property on which Balmoral decides to use the technology.

But Balmoral has to work fast to maintain the agreement. If a sizeable property, containing at least 100,000 oz of the yellow metal, is not acquired within the next 12 months, Giant Bay has stated it will cancel the agreement.

If, in fact, a property is acquired, then Giant Bay has stated its intent to extend to Balmoral the exclusive rights to the technology to cover the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire — the series of volcanic island arcs in southeast Asia where a number of very large, low grade epithermal gold deposits have been discovered, largely by Australian exploration companies, in recent years.

The geology of these deposits suggest there is a significant potential for using bioleaching technology to liberate the gold.

Relatively high-cost pressure leaching is the proven technological alternative to using un-tested bioleaching.

In Canada, Giant Bay is conducting pilot plant tests to treat refractory gold ore from the Salmita mine near Yellowknife, N.W.T.