- Vancouver-based gold and silver resource developer ESGold Corp. is building a revenue-generating clean tailings rehabilitation operation at its flagship site in Quebec, while preparing for further gold and silver exploration at the historic mine property
- The tailings cleanup operation relies on a gravity separation circuit that separates out heavy metals without reliance on polluting cyanide extraction methods
- ESGold recently received delivery of Humphrey spiral concentrators that will form a key part of the gravity separation circuit when the cleanup operation begins later this year
- The company expects the tailings recovery to generate about $35 million per year, which it will use to build its exploration strategy at the 13,116-hectare site abandoned by a previous producer
Heavy metal resource developer ESGold (CSE: ESAU) (OTCQB: ESAUF) is taking a “tangible step” toward production anticipated to begin later this year in its recovery operation at a historic gold and silver resource named Montauban in Quebec, Canada.
ESGold holds 265 mining claims at the Montauban site, covering 13,116 hectares (about 32,410 acres). The company’s production model anticipates immediate revenue generation through tailings reprocessing to rehabilitate the site, while continuing to move toward further gold and silver exploration at the property abandoned by a previous producer.
ESGold reports signs of another estimated decade-worth of gold and silver production at the site.
The company’s preparations for mica, gold and silver recovery from the fully permitted tailings cleanup operation took a significant step forward with the delivery of Humphrey spiral concentrators it will use in a gravity separation circuit at the site (https://ibn.fm/abEzG). Gravity separation using the spiral concentrators will allow ESGold to efficiently reprocess the tailings through a clean energy model that avoids the cyanide extraction methods employed by other recovery operations.
“With boots on the ground, key equipment on site, and construction progressing on schedule, there is a high level of excitement across the company,” CEO Paul Mastantuono stated in a May 27 news release (https://ibn.fm/5yXyD). “It’s one thing to plan for production—it’s another to physically see it coming together for our shareholders.”
ESGold’s optimism is underscored by a market that continues to regard gold as a safe-haven asset and values silver for its use in modern computer electronics, including electric vehicle batteries and electrical components (https://ibn.fm/jcAGs).
“Basically, what we’re going to be doing is processing tailings, extracting silver and gold and mica,” ESGold President and Director Brad Kitchen said during a presentation at this month’s Metals Investor Forum in Vancouver (https://ibn.fm/exAfx). “And those tailings will bring in a revenue of about $35 million a year. That revenue will then help fund exploration. We’re not going to have to go to the market.”
The gravity separation circuit is designed to process up to 1,000 metric tons per day (“TPD”) of the site’s tailings to produce the mica concentrate and recover any residual gold and silver. The mica concentrate has potential for use in a variety of building materials, including bricks, cinder blocks, paving stones, patio tiles, parking columns, and highway Jersey barriers for traffic lane demarcation, according to the company.
ESGold is pursuing that potential through a joint venture with private consultancy DMCMS Inc., which is working to develop its clean technology that fuses mine waste with an organic polymer to turn the resulting product into environmentally friendly, sustainable materials.
A 2022 Construction Canada news report states the polymer process doesn’t produce carbon dioxide pollutants and that the resulting mica concentrate has proven to be stronger than concrete (https://ibn.fm/2Jo71).
“ESGold is entering a transformational phase — one that few mining companies successfully reach,” board member Peter Espig stated in a May 1 news release (https://ibn.fm/RULYT).
For more information, visit the company’s website at https://esgold.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ESAUF are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ESAUF
