Dec 21 2012
Searchlight Minerals Corp. today announced the successful start-up of its pilot autoclave system and the initial processing and production of pregnant leach solution ("PLS") derived from slag material extracted from the Company's Clarkdale Slag Project in Clarkdale, Arizona.
Pilot Autoclave System
The Company also announced that it has hired Richard Kunter as Senior Corporate Metallurgist and Doug Aho as Autoclave Process Engineer on a full-time basis. Together, these highly experienced engineers will manage and execute the Company's pilot autoclave testing program.
The Company's goal in acquiring and operating the pilot autoclave system is to finalize the commercial-scale autoclave design by generating multiple large batches of PLS, under a variety of test conditions, in order to determine the optimum process system parameters for the ultimate extraction of precious metals from the slag material. It is anticipated that this information will then be used to move forward into a bankable feasibility study.
The 240-gallon (908 liters) titanium and tantalum pilot autoclave has been undergoing installation and calibration over the past several weeks at Arrakis, Inc.'s facility in Denver, Colorado. Arrakis is an independent consultant that has been closely involved with the Clarkdale Slag Project since 2010. Photos of the autoclave and support system are attached.
In a single run, the initial test of the autoclave system produced approximately 170 gallons of PLS from approximately 230 pounds of slag material. The Company believes PLS produced from this autoclave will allow definitive recovery of gold from solution by producing a sufficient quantity of metallic gold to permit gravimetric determination of the amount of gold extracted from the slag by various methods. These methods include ion exchange resin, carbon, electro-winning and others. It is expected that this pilot-scale testing will continue through the first quarter of 2013.
Mr. Kunter is an extractive metallurgical engineer, with a B.S. and M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Idaho. He is a member and Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Chartered Professional Metallurgical Engineer, and a member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc. (SME-AIME), the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS-AIME), the American Society for Metals, the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America, as well as the Extractive Metallurgy Chapter of Denver, Past Chairman (ASM, SME and TMS). Mr. Kunter is a designated Qualified Person for Metallurgy and Environmental. His extensive career in precious and base metal metallurgy has included the successful execution of assignments for nationally and internationally recognized mining companies and mining consulting firms including Western Mining, Newmont and Homestake Mining, among others. Of particular relevance to the Company is his extensive experience in Pressure Oxidation via autoclave in which he holds two patents.
Mr. Aho is a mechanical engineer with a B.S. from the University of Colorado. He has over 20 years of experience in process engineering and precious metals analysis and instrumentation. His career assignments include engineering, technical and analytical positions with Barrick Mining, Hazen Research, the Colorado School of Mines, and most recently Samuel Engineering. Mr. Aho has operated the bench test autoclave used for numerous tests conducted for the Company and has had engineering design oversight of the Company's recently commissioned pilot autoclave system.
"We are very excited about the start-up of the pilot autoclave and our ability to produce PLS in larger quantities," stated Martin Oring, Chief Executive Officer of Searchlight Minerals Corp. "We are also very encouraged that Mr. Kunter and Mr. Ahoo, both of whom have been intimately involved in our autoclave test work as consulting engineers over the past two years, have expressed their confidence in our project by joining the Company's technical team on a full-time basis. We believe their metallurgical and autoclave processing experience will help us finalize the commercial-scale autoclave system design and optimum process parameters as we move towards our goal of completing a bankable feasibility study."