KELLOGG, Idaho, April 19, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Jersey Mining Company (OTCBB:NJMC) is pleased to announce that it has completed improvements to its concentrate leach plant and started to process ore through its mill near Kellogg. Preparations are also underway to begin mobilizing a crew of miners to the Silver Strand mine.
Work completed at the mill in March and April has focused on improvements to the concentrate leach plant (CLP) such as modifications to the electro-winning cell to improve recovery, a new drive system to reduce leaks in the re-pulper, and the installation of stainless steel piping to increase safety. Initially, a batch of custom ore is being processed at the mill and then material from an exploration raise at the New Jersey mine will be processed.
Mobilization to the Silver Strand mine will begin in late April and work on the mine will start the first week of May. It is expected that about one month of work is required to prepare for mining operations with ore shipments to the New Jersey mill starting in June. The grade of the block of ore to be mined at the Silver Strand is 361 grams per tonne (gpt) silver and 5.43 gpt gold. Initially, the planned production rate is 400 tonnes per month which is expected to accelerate in the autumn.
An exploration raise is being mined at the New Jersey mine on a newly found vein. The new vein is steeply dipping and strikes more east-west than the main Coleman vein which strikes more north and south. The vein width ranges from 0.2 meters to 0.6 meters, and chip samples ranged from 1.27 to 19.75 gpt gold averaging 6.98 gpt gold. Future drilling and extension of the raise will be necessary to determine if an economic ore shoot can be found. It is important to note that the east-west orientation of this new vein system has not been tested by past drilling efforts.
New Jersey Mining Company is involved in exploring for and developing gold, silver and base metal resources in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. New Jersey Mining Company has a portfolio of mineral properties in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District including the Toboggan project, the Niagara copper-silver deposit, the Golden Chest project, the New Jersey mine, and the Silver Strand mine. The New Jersey mine includes a fully-permitted flotation mill and concentrate leach plant.
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in New Jersey Mining Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Further information about New Jersey Mining Company and its properties can be found at the company's website at www.newjerseymining.com .