VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - June 16, 2011) - Belvedere Resources Ltd. (News - Market indicators) ("Belvedere") is pleased to announce results from Metallurgical test work on its 100% owned Kopsa Gold Copper Project, in Finland. Recoveries of between 90-94% for gold and 90-97% for copper into an initial Rougher concentrate were easily achieved from a bulk sample recovered from drill core, with a head grade of 1.8 g/t gold, 3.5 g/t silver and 0.16% copper. Gold grades in the Rougher concentrate typically peaked at between 21.8 and 38.6 g/t, and copper grades peaked between 1.9 and 3.2% after the first 1 minute of flotation. The test also produced an extremely clean tailings with sulphur and arsenic contents < 0.1%.
David Pym CEO comments "The initial test work proves the feasibility of successfully recovering gold and copper into a concentrate. The process utilises similar equipment to the existing facilities at Belvedere's nearby Hitura Nickel Mine, providing many opportunities for cost synergies through jointly utilising production facilities. This is another significant development milestone for the Kopsa project. The final phase of infill drilling at Kopsa will commence at the end of July, to allow completion of an NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate over the main zone ore body. This will allow the completion of a preliminary economic study on the Kopsa Project by year end.
Metallurgical test work was carried out by SGS Laboratory Services in Cornwall, UK. Gold and Copper recoveries were optimised for grind size and then a number of flotation scenarios were undertaken on the optimised grind. Good copper recoveries could be achieved from coarser grinds but gold recoveries were maximised using a grind where 80% of the particles were <45 um. This compares well with earlier bulk cyanide tests where 85-90% of the gold was recovered at similar grinds, with the added benefit of potentially enabling the company to capture significant extra value through extraction and sale of the copper by-product.
A number of different flotation scenarios were trialled with the aim of producing a marketable copper concentrate and a separate gold concentrate. Further detailed work needs to be done, but tests indicated that a commercial grade copper concentrate could be produced after several cleaning stages. Higher gold grades up to 71 g/t Au in concentrate were achieved after several cleaning stages at the expense of recoveries. A brief investigation into cyanide leaching of the bulk rougher concentrate gave unexpectedly low recoveries of gold and further work is required in this area to see if recoveries improve after the removal of a copper concentrate.
About Belvedere:
Belvedere Resources Limited is a mining company incorporated in British Columbia with a primary focus on nickel, gold, cobalt and copper in Finland. The Company currently produces 2500t of nickel in concentrate/year from the Hitura nickel mine in Central Finland. The Company has a number of advanced gold projects in close proximity to the Hitura mine.
Forward Looking Statement:
Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking statement, which involve known and unknown risks
and uncertainties. Without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of the Company (including statements relating to future drill results) are forward-looking statements that involve various degrees of risk. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements.
Qualified Person
This news release was reviewed by Dr. Toby Strauss, who is acting as Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release.
BELVEDERE RESOURCES LTD.
David Pym, CEO; Suite #404, Vancouver World Trade Centre, 999 Canada Place, Vancouver. BC. V6C 3E2, Canada
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