New Video from Dan Hally released: Transcript below.
Hi, this is Dan, back at the Warren District project. Just working on a couple of different things here. First, a follow-up: this is a close-up of the really unusual rock we've been seeing, not only where we were at in the earlier videos from today but also here on location. You can see these rocks are unusually layered; they're essentially laminated. Pressure and heat would have caused that. You can also see another layer here—almost like a glass layer, similar to what slag would look like. It's all part of the complex geology we're figuring out.
Over the winter, we made a lot of modifications and changes to the separation process. We did test processing for the ore in the stockpile, taking different samples, sending them off for assays, and conducting all types of tests—smelter tests, examining buttons, XRF testing, and more. Now, we’ve figured out the process and have tens of thousands of grams of concentrates ready to go. The next step is figuring out the leaching process because it's so complex.
For example, we’ve been trying different small batches to see what works. We're working with different labs and experts on this process, and though it's complicated, we're making progress. We have a pretty good idea of what will work. Based on the assays we've done on the ore, we have gold and silver, but we also have all of the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs)—and we’re not talking traces. All of the PGMs are present in multi-ounce quantities, just like the gold and silver, based on the assay tests. We’ve sent additional samples to a lab in Germany for confirmation, and the assays we’ve received so far are consistent with what we believe we’re seeing. After crushing and pulverizing the ore, we can confirm some of this under the microscope, as well as through the colors we get when testing with different leaching processes.
For instance, in one test using aqua regia, we placed 50 grams of concentrate in the solution, and you can see a bright, vibrant yellow, almost orange color. At the bottom of the glass container, there’s a silvery layer that appears to be metal particles. What we know is that gold and platinum will dissolve in aqua regia. Before placing the concentrate in aqua regia, we also tested with nitric acid. Of the 50 grams of concentrate, 6 grams dissolved into the solution, indicating silver, as silver reacts with nitric acid, whereas gold and PGMs—including platinum—do not.
So, we know it's a complicated process, but we have a lot of high-grade concentrates ready. We just need to figure out the best way to extract them. Smelting has proven ineffective, which is why we’re doing all this testing. It’s a complex ore, and we’re trying to make the most of it.
For those unfamiliar with PGMs like iridium and osmium, these metals often originate from meteor strikes. Last August, Steve Dobson mentioned noticing geological signs in the area that suggested a meteor strike. We’ve spent a lot of time investigating this, and the rock I showed at the beginning of the video is just another piece of that puzzle. We know we’re within the impact zone of the Beaverhead strike, and there seems to be a large crater here, though this is still theoretical. We have a lot of work ahead to confirm this, but it helps us understand the ore better and how to recover the maximum amount of precious metals.
That’s what we’ve been working on. It's a bit of a long video, but I wanted to give an overview of what we did this winter and where we are now. Everything is still in the test phase, but one important thing we've learned is that we don’t need to process a lot of ore to recover a significant amount of concentrate. Unlike big mines that process tons of material daily, this project is about processing ounces per day—though those ounces contain a lot of different precious metals. We’re working hard to figure it out.
With Guy on board now—this is his specialty—he’s been a fantastic addition to the team. We've also got Mike Irish helping in the background, and labs around the world are analyzing our samples. That’s what we’ve got going on. This is Dan from Sidney Resources, signing off.
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