TORONTO, Jan. 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- January 18, 2022) – EnviroGold Global Limited (CSE: NVRO | OTCQB: RGOZF |FSE: YGK) (“EnviroGold Global” or the “Company“), a Clean Technology Company accelerating the world’s transition to a circular-resource economy through the production of Metals Without Mining, is pleased to announce positive results from an independent ground penetrating radar geophysical survey (the “Survey” or the “GPR Survey”) of its Buchans river delta tailings reprocessing & metal recovery project (the “Buchans Project”). The results are consistent with previous drilling of the deltaic tailings deposit and indicate the potential for a substantial upward revision of EnviroGold Global’s project estimates.
The results of the GPR Survey included 128.5 km of radar data that indicated the presence of substantial quantities of distinct geological material with an average thickness of 1.5 m deposited on and overlaying the bedrock underneath the exposed and submerged areas of the Buchans river delta (refer to figure below). The GPR Survey results are consistent with previous drilling of the tailings and support EnviroGold Global’s expectations of the presence of substantial quantities of legacy mine tailings in the central claims of the Buchans Project.
The data also indicated substantial quantities of distinct geological material within the EnviroGold Global controlled Jeff Wall claim adjacent to the Buchans central claims. The Survey shows the material extends into the Jeff Wall claims forming a “Western Arc” over a 1 km strike length. The identification of the previously unknown “Western Arc” indicates significant upside and increased potential for the Buchans Project, consistent with EnviroGold Global’s expectation that substantial quantities of legacy mine tailings exist outside of the Buchans Central claims.
A Media Snippet accompanying this announcement is available by clicking on the image or link below:
Commenting on these positive developments, EnviroGold Global CEO, Dr. Mark Thorpe, said, “We are very pleased that the results of this geophysical Survey indicate substantial quantities of tailings within the central claims, consistent with legacy exploration work in the delta. The Survey’s indication of substantial additional legacy mine tailings along the “Western Arc” is a major development and could indicate an increase from our baseline estimates of the project’s potential. We appreciate the professionalism and expertise of Abitibi Geophysics.”
The independent Survey was undertaken by Abitibi Geophysics (“Abitibi”), a leading Canadian geotechnical firm, and was intended to map the presence, thickness and potential quantities of legacy mine tailings within the 1,225 hectares (3,025 acres) of mine claims subject to EnviroGold Global’s previously announced binding and definitive agreement. The tailings resulted from approximately 40 years of legacy gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc mining during which time tailings were dumped directly into the Buchans Brook and re-deposited into Beothuk Lake in the form of the Buchans River delta that could contain substantial quantities of precious metals, critical metals and barite. EnviroGold Global’s detailed assessments of the deltaic tailings, including metallurgical analysis, have suggested the potential for significant metal recovery.
EnviroGold Global will undertake additional work to define the potential of the Buchans Project, including a core sampling program, and is pleased to announce that it has submitted an exploration permit application to the Newfoundland and Labrador government for a coring plan covering the “Western Arc” within the Jeff Wall Claim. The Company expects the exploration permit to be approved in Q1 2022. EnviroGold Global is also pleased to announce that its previously-submitted sampling and analysis plan for the Aubrey Budgell claims, which lie to the north of the Buchans central claims, has been approved by the government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In addition to further defining the project’s potential, the data generated by the planned exploration can be used to prepare a mineral resource estimate for the Buchans Project.
About the Buchans Project
The Buchans Tailings were produced during decades of mining operations within the Buchans Mining District, which was home to one of the world’s largest volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposits. From 1928 to 1984, American Smelting and Refining Company Inc. (ASARCO) produced approximately 16 million tonnes from five deposits with an average mill head grade of 14.51% zinc, 7.56% lead, 1.33% copper, 126 g/t silver and 1.37 g/t gold (reference: Geoscience Canada, Volume 37, Number 7, December 2010). From the start of the operation to about 1965, tailings from the operations were deposited into the Buchans River and flowed down the creek contributing to the Buchans River Delta.
The Company expects to deploy modular, scalable metal recovery and tailings remediation systems at the site designed with the capacity to process up to 1,000 tonnes per day of the reclaimed tailings. EnviroGold Global is entitled to 50% of the project economics.
Technical Details on the Abitibi Geophysical Survey
The Abitibi Geophysical Survey was undertaken to employ geophysical methods that can be used to determine the thickness, and thus the quantities, of the deltaic tailings deposited within the 1,225 hectares (3,025 acres) of mine claims subject to EnviroGold Global’s previously announced binding and definitive agreement.
Abitibi reviewed several potential geophysical methods for the survey, including electrical, electromagnetic and seismic methods, ultimately choosing to employ advanced ground penetrating radar to optimize the vertical and horizontal resolution of the survey. In addition to the GPR, Abitibi used acoustic pulse methodology to conduct a bathymetric survey of the water column covering certain portions of the deltaic tailings deposit. The acoustic bathymetric survey provided data, including data related to the boundary between the water and the sedimentary material, that was used to enhance the interpretability of the GPR generated data.
GPR is the highest resolution geophysical method and uses radio waves to penetrate and map the subsurface. Successful early work with GPR was performed to map the thickness of ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic, with pioneering research conducted by the British Antarctic Survey in the 1960s. Applications for GPR expanded into non-polar applications in the 1970s beginning with civil engineering applications. Historically, the expansion of GPR applications was inhibited by a lack of access to computers with sufficient capacity to capture and display sub-microsecond pulses of electromagnetic energy. In the 1990s, with the advent of the high-speed laptop computer, the ability to capture, digitize and store large volumes of radar data was realized. Commercial applications for GPR subsequently expanded significantly and currently include utilities detection, rebar imaging in concrete, void detection, permafrost engineering, stratigraphic mapping and fracture mapping.
GPR instruments employ a technique known as “stacking” to mitigate the impact of background signals on the results of a geophysical study. The more “stacking” a system can do, the deeper the radar can image. Most radar systems can “stack” 16 or 32 times when being dragged without a blurring effect. The instrumentation employed by Abitibi for the EnviroGold Global geophysical survey is able to stack 128,000 times and can therefore image to depths 2 to 3 times that of conventional GPR systems.
The GPR Survey was undertaken in November and December 2021 using 45MHz and 100MHz GPR systems and SONAR systems for bathymetric study. The GPR Survey collected a total of 128.5km of radar data using ATV and watercrafts to transport the Survey equipment.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) included a series of standard data processing methodologies including filtering, time zero adjustment, rubber-sheeting and migration, designed to enhance the quality and interpretability of the Survey data. The operation of the Survey instrumentation was independent from the initial quality control, processing, plotting and interpretation reporting, which was completed by a Professional Geologist. A final, independent quality control review was conducted by separate Professional Geologist. The study personnel were employed by Abitibi and independent of EnviroGold Global.
Qualified Person Statement
All scientific and technical information contained in this news release was prepared and approved by Ian Hodkinson, MAIG RPGeo, Chief Geologist of EnviroGold Global, who is a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
About EnviroGold Global
EnviroGold Global (CSE: NVRO) (OTCQB: RGOZF) (FSE: YGK), is a Clean Technology company creating shareholder value while establishing ESG market leadership by remediating mine and industrial waste, while reclaiming high-value commodities. The Company is strategically positioned to earn and maintain social license while capitalizing the estimated US$3.4 trillion in valuable commodities residing in target waste streams globally.
Further Information
Dr. Mark B. Thorpe
Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: +1 416 777 6720
Email: mark.thorpe@envirogoldglobal.com
Juan Carlos Giron Jr.
Sr. Vice President
Telephone: +1 416 777 6720
Email: juan.giron@envirogoldglobal.com
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, earnings guidance, economic guidance, operational guidance and future capital spending amounts. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements.
Graphical representations included in this news release are approximate representations which may vary from defined regulatory boundaries.
Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “will continue”, “will occur” or “will be achieved”. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected terms of the Buchans Project and its completion, the Company’s working relationship with the owner(s) of the Buchans tailings, the economic viability of the Buchans Project and statements regarding any residual precious metals as a by-product of the remediation, the Company’s expansion of its reprocessing pipeline, and the Company’s ability to accelerate the world’s transition to a circular resource economy. Forward-looking information in this news release are based on certain assumptions and expected future events, namely: the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; the continued commercial viability and growth in the clean technology and mining waste reprocessing industry; continued approval of the Company’s activities by the relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities; the continued development of clean technology and mining waste reprocessing technology; and the continued growth of the Company. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to: the potential inability of the Company to continue as a going concern; the Company’s inability to accelerate the world’s transition to a circular resource economy, the risks associated with assessing metallurgical recovery rates from mine tailings and waste and related volumetric assessments, the risks associated with the mining and mining waste recycling industry in general; increased competition in the clean technology and waste reprocessing market; the potential unviability of the clean technology and mining waste reprocessing market; incorrect assessment of the value and potential benefits of various transactions; risks associated with potential governmental and/or regulatory action with respect to clean technology and mining waste reprocessing; risks associated with a potential collapse in the value of clean technology and waste reprocessing; and risks relating to the Company’s potential inability to expand its reprocessing pipeline.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company’s expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.
