Touquoy gold project to use Gekko plant

NOVA SCOTIA — Atlantic Gold of Australia has been testing the use of a Gekko plant on material from its Touquoy gold project in the central part of the province. Work done by Gekko Systems confirmed that more than 90% of the gold can be recovered after a very coarse grind.

Gekko has tested the soft Touquoy ore in a gravity circuit, where 70% to 75% of the gold will be captured. The gravity tails will then pass through a flash flotation circuit and then cyanidation of the flotation concentrate. A particle size of –850 μm was sufficient to reach 90% gold recovery. The ore can be reduced to that size using a vertical shaft impactor, a cheaper alternative than conventional milling.

Atlantic Gold will continue testing the Gekko option and believes that designed throughput can be increased in order to produce as many ounces as possible.

Plans call for an open pit and mill that will produce 90,000 oz annually. Details are available at www.AtlanticGold.com.

(Editor's question: Do any of our readers know of a Gekko plant in Canada or would the one at Touquoy be the first?)