Western Exploration Inc. (WEX:TSX.V; WEXPF:OTC) announced that metallurgical testing on composite samples collected from its wholly-owned Aura gold and silver project in Nevada indicate recoveries of 94.8% for gold and 89.8% for silver. One analyst predicts the stock is on track for a bull market.
Western Exploration Inc. (WEX:TSX.V; WEXPF:OTC) announced the results of metallurgical testing on composite samples collected from core drilling within the Jarbidge rhyolite hanging wall zone of the Gravel Creek deposit at its wholly-owned Aura gold and silver project in Nevada.
Locked-cycle flotation tests done this year on the cores collected in 2023 indicate recoveries of 94.8% for gold and 89.8% for silver in a combined gravity and flotation concentrate, the company said in a release.
"Preliminary metallurgical test work on Gravel Creek hanging wall mineralization has returned very positive results for the recovery of gold and silver to concentrate," Chief Executive Officer Darcy Marud said. "The recoveries are similar to past Gravel Creek metallurgical test work and demonstrate a potential path to economic recovery for precious metals."
Western Exploration said the combined gravity and flotation concentrate were 10.9% of the feed weight and averaged 57.1 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) and 1,725 g/t silver (Ag).
The flotation concentrate averaged 29.1% sulfide sulfur, the company said. Gravity concentration before rougher flotation concentration (from the gravity tailings) recovered 22.4% of the gold and 4.4% of the silver in 0.16% of the total feed weight with a gold grade of 920 g/t and a silver grade of 5,750 g/t.
The Aura Project consists of three locations in Nevada: Doby George, Gravel Creek, and Wood Gulch. Earlier this year, the company announced that it is expanding the size of the Wood Gulch/Gravel Creek resources area and working toward a resource update for Doby George.
Technical Analyst Clive Maund agreed that bright days could be ahead for the stock.*
"Western Exploration is powering up for a major bull market," he wrote. "The price/volume has been positive for most of this year, and the price is now starting to advance away from the base that started to form as far back as August of last year, and at a time when the entire sector is commencing a major bull market. Holders of Western Exploration should, therefore, stay long, and it is rated a Strong Buy here as the bull market is still in its earliest stages."
At Gravel Creek, Western Exploration said flotation test work was conducted on a gold- and silver-bearing diamond drill composite from core holes WG456 and WG457, drilled in 2023 in the Jarbidge rhyolite. The two oriented core holes were completed to evaluate resource expansion potential in mineralized vein/breccia trends northeast of the Gravel Creek resource.
As previously reported by the company, Hole WG456 was located 250 meters northeast of the Gravel Creek resource area and reported individual assays up to 34.9 g/t Au and 2,800 g/t Ag and Hole WG457, located 140 meters northeast of the Gravel Creek resource area, reported individual assays up to 257 g/t Au and 1,655 g/t Ag.
The composite was comprised of sulfide mineralization collected from samples ranging in downhole depths of 316 meters to 731 meters in WG456 and WG457, Western Exploration said.
Composite assays showed that it contained 6.14 g/t Au, 206 g/t Ag, and 2.71% sulfide sulfur, the company said. Cyanide shake analysis showed that the sample had cyanide soluble to fire assay ratios (CN/FA) of 53.4% for gold and 36.8% for silver. The composite contained negligible amounts (