GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., July 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Bullfrog Gold Corp (OTCQB: BFGC) (“BFGC” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce issuance of environmental permits and studies, metallurgical test updates, progress with listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange, appointment of Ty Minnick as Chief Financial Officer and new claim staking at its Bullfrog Project (“Project”) located 125 miles NW of Las Vegas Nevada.
Permitting and Environmental Studies
The Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (“NDEP”) issued a Nevada Reclamation Permit to cover drilling and related exploration disturbances for up to 17 acres on the Company’s patented mining claims.
Two applications known as Notices were approved by the US Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) and two additional Notices are soon expected to be approved to disturb up to 4.0 acres on unpatented mining claims. Upon reclaiming the initial Notice lands, subsequent parcels up to 5 acres may be approved under the BLM Notice procedure. The Nevada permit and a few additional BLM Notice approvals cover all reasonably foreseeable drilling and exploration disturbances on the Company’s patented and unpatented mining claims
An independent survey and assessment of the areas in the four BLM Notices found no evidence of desert tortoises. The June 2019 assessment further concluded that existing open pits, waste dumps and limited vegetation resources make the Project even less likely to be inhabited by desert tortoises.
Evaluation of extensive geological and metallurgical information on the Project concluded that mineralized and waste rocks in the Bullfrog mine area have relatively high alkaline components and originally contained less than 2% sulfides, which nearly all have now been oxidized. Notwithstanding, ten samples collected from the Bullfrog (“BF”), Montgomery Shoshone (“MS”) and Mystery Hill (“MH”) areas were tested using NDEP’s acid base accounting procedures. Remarkably, the average acid neutralization to acid generation ratio was 36, which far exceeds a generally accepted ratio of 3 or more for having a low to no risk of acid generation.
Metallurgical Testing
Three additional 600-pound bulk samples from the BF, MS and MH areas were crushed to 3/8” with equal splits further reduced to 1/4” and 1/16” (10 mesh) using high pressure grinding rolls (HPGR’s). HPGR’s can produce finer sizes with more micro-fractures than conventional crushers at many gold deposits, thereby improving heap leach recoveries and financial performance. The Bullfrog area mineral is highly amenable to using HPGR’s as they are brittle, have very low contents of clay, generate fewer fines and percolate better than most gold deposits even at very fine heap leach sizes.
Results from the first HPGR bottle roll and column test program achieved good gold recoveries and acceptable percolation through un-agglomerated BB mineral sized at -10 mesh – see press release of August 21, 2018. However, the MH and MS samples sized at -10 mesh contained more fines than the BF samples and were agglomerated with 2 kg of cement/tonne. Load/permeability geotechnical tests on final column leached residues will be performed to analyze heap heights and stabilities and ultimately select the best leach feed size for the Project with due consideration to environmental, technical and economic aspects.
The nine column tests on 35 to 70-kg splits of the bulk samples closely simulate heap leach production conditions, but final results are not yet available. Notwithstanding, indicative results from four bottle roll tests completed on 1-kg splits of a separate 15-pound BF sample are shown below. This smaller sample was taken in the deepest part of the BF pit near the location where the BF bulk sample was subsequently collected. Although the bottle roll recoveries at sizes of 3/8” and 1/4” sizes are low, it is anticipated that the column leach tests on the much larger bulk sample will provide accurate and representative recoveries at all three sizes.
96-Hour Bottle Roll Tests on Bullfrog Sample Splits
| Size, p80 Inch mm | Crush Type | Calc. Head Gold g/t | Head Assay Gold g/t | Gold Rec., % |
| 3/8 9.5 1/4 6.3 1/16 1.7 1/16 1.7 | Conventional HPGR Conventional HPGR | 1.93 1.72 1.74 1.61 | 1.70 1.70 1.70 1.70 | 33.7 55.8 74.7 84.5 |
Improvement: 1/16" vs 3/8" +50.8
For reference, column leach tests completed in 1994 achieved a gold recovery of 76% on 40 kg of representative BF stockwork mineralization averaging 0.99 g/t that were conventionally crushed to -3/8” and leached for 41 days. An 800-ton pilot heap leach test in 1995 recovered 67% on similar mineralization averaging 0.65 g/t and conventionally crushed to -1/2”; however, this test would likely have recovered near 76% of the gold had the heap been crushed to -3/8”, leached longer than 41 days and if reported solution distribution issues did not occur.
Listing on Canadian Securities Exchange
In connection with becoming a reporting issuer in Canada, below is a summary of the Company’s 2019 submissions to the British Columbia Securities Exchange Commission (“BCSC”) and the Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE”):
- A preliminary non-offering prospectus was submitted to the BCSC on June 3. The first comment letter was received on June 19 and the Company responded on July 5.
- Initial listing application submissions were sent to the CSE on June 10 followed by other information as it became available. Approval of the final prospectus is the current driver of the soon anticipated completion of the CSE listing process.
Senior Management
Ty Minnick was appointed Chief Financial Officer in April 2019. Mr. Minnick was the Company’s Director of Finance and Administration since mid-2011, is a CPA with 25 years of experience and continues to be a strong contributor to the growth and well-being of the Company.
Claim Staking
The Company’s land position now totals 5,250 acres after staking and filing 23 new mining claims around the Paradise Ridge exploration target and a nearby potential leach pad site.
About Bullfrog Gold Corp.
BFGC is a Delaware corporation that controls the commanding land and mineral positions in the Bullfrog Mine area where Barrick Bullfrog Inc. produced 2.3 million ounces of gold by conventional milling from 1989 into 1999. An independent 43-101 compliant report prepared in August 2017 estimated mineralization at 624,000 ounces at 0.7 g/tonne gold within expanded pit plans based on a gold price of $1,200 and use of heap leaching. The Company obtained a large database form Barrick, including detailed information on 155 miles of drilling in the area, and defined potential BF and MS pit expansions and several prospective exploration targets.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including those with respect to the objectives, plans and strategies of the Company and those preceded by or that include the words "believes," "expects," "given," "targets," "intends," "anticipates," "plans," "projects," "forecasts" or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking information and statements are based on numerous assumptions, including among others, the Company's ability to successfully list its shares on the CSE, the stability of industry and market costs and trends and the Company's ability to obtain all regulatory approvals required for its planned objectives, including listing its shares on the CSE. We use certain terms in this valuation such as “mineralization” and “mineral inventory estimates” that are not defined in Canadian National Instrument 43-101; or recognized under the U.S. SEC Industry Guide 7. The Company is presently an exploration stage company. Exploration is highly speculative in nature, involves many risks, requires substantial expenditures and may not result in the discovery of sufficient mineral deposits that can be mined profitably. Furthermore, the Company currently has no resources or reserves on any of its properties. As a result, there can be no assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Additional information regarding important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations is disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosures in our Form 10-K and other SEC filings, which can be obtained from the SEC’s website at http:www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml, or sourced through www.bullfroggold.com.
Qualified Person
David Beling, P.E. is a qualified person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure or Mineral Projects and has prepared, supervised the preparation of, or approved the technical information that forms the basis of the Company’s disclosures. Mr. Beling is not independent of Bullfrog Gold Corp, as he is the CEO & President and holds common shares and incentive stock options.
Contact Information:
(970) 628-1670.