Challenger Gold Limited (ASX: CEL) is thrilled to announce significant advancements in metallurgical testing that open the door to simplify the Hualilan flowsheet, lower capital expenditure (capex), and significantly de-risk the project.

Highlights:

• High Gold and Silver Recoveries: Recent metallurgical testwork re-examining cyanide leaching technology on Hualilan Mineralisation has indicated high gold and silver recoveries, in contrast to historical testwork that indicated poor recoveries.
• 89% Recovery for Gold: Recent Bottle Roll testwork assessing a Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) or Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) processing route has resulted in 89% recovery for gold.
• Potential Conventional CIP/CIL Processing Route: This offers several advantages including lower capital cost, simplification of the flow sheet, lower process OPEX, and higher payabilities of precious metals.
• Column Leach Testwork for Low-Grade Mineralisation: Early results identify an economically viable process route to recovering gold and silver from material previously considered waste.
• Delay in Scoping Study: A more comprehensive evaluation of these processing alternatives must be performed, leading to a delay in the release of the Scoping Study.

Detailed Testwork Insights:

• Bottle Roll Cyanide Leach Test: The test results showed promising recoveries, including 88.5% for gold and 56.8% for silver.
• Column Test Results: The first column test exceeded expectations, demonstrating recoveries surpassing bottle roll tests. A second column test is underway to confirm the results.
• Comprehensive Program of Column Testwork: A program of 13 Column tests is planned, with results expected around the end of October 2023.

Commenting on the results, CEL Managing Director, Mr Kris Knauer, said

“Hualilan has the ability to continually surprise on the upside. A program of metallurgical testwork conducted, really, for completeness, has the potential to change the way Hualilan is developed. 

Initial trade-off work indicates that the outcome between developing Hualilan via flotation compared to CIL needs to be properly evaluated in the Scoping Study. CIL offers several advantages including; production and sale of s gold and silver doré, lower up-front capital, higher payabilities and simplification of the flow sheet and logistics. 

Additionally, the ability to use CIL offers a number of benefits such a likely perceived lower overall project risk profile and a broadening of the potential investor/finance base for the Company."

Challenger Gold Limited’s (ASX: CEL) aspiration is to become a globally significant gold producer. The Company is developing two complementary gold/copper projects in South America with am MRE of 2.8 million ounces of gold equivalent recently announced for the Hualilan Gold Project in San Juan, Argentina in 2022.