Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inception Mining Inc. (OTC QB: IMII) (“Inception” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the completion of the expansion project initially announced in May 3, 2017 at its whollyowned Clavo Rico Project in Honduras.
In summary, the processing capacity of excavation, hauling, and crushing facilities has been increased to 500 -750 tpd. Additionally, stacking capacity of the leach pad was increased from 400,000 tonnes to over 750,000 tonnes. This increase will hopefully enable the Company to meet its production target for 2018 of 10,000 ounces recovered gold.
Commissioning of newly acquired earth moving and processing equipment throughout the month of August resulted in stacking of 6725 tonnes of ore on the leach pad at a throughput rate of over 600 tpd. Furthermore, the equipment performed to design specifications with crushing facilities passing 70% below 3/8th of an inch which will enhance the overall efficiency of the operation. In all, the upgraded mining and processing circuit was successfully operated for a total of 11 days.
The current method of ore treatment through the heap leach operation has been maintained during expansion. A range of production values have been considered and for each incremental increase in production over the current rate per year for which a mine plan and flowsheets were developed.
To allow preferential treatment of ore based on variable cut off grades and economics, provisions have been made to treat low grade run of mine ("ROM") ore directly on a dedicated ROM leach pad without further sizing. This approach will provide flexibility for the operation to maximize ore production through the process plant while taking advantage of variable annual production from low grade reserves to achieve maximum gold recovery.
Technical Report
The Company has engaged Precision GeoSolutions to complete an independent National Instrument 43-101 compliant Technical Report for the Company’s Clavo Rico Project in Honduras. The report will incorporate drilling data from twelve core holes drilled in 2016 at the Clavo Rico Project as well as previous drill data and extensive information collected from recent mapping and sampling initiatives.
A number of site visits have been completed by the independent Qualified Person, Dr. Brian Mahoney, between November 2016 and October 2017 and the Company expects completion of the Technical Report by December 2017.
The objective of the Technical Report will be to delineate oxide gold resources amenable to processing at the Company’s heap leach facility as well as to identify and evaluate additional near-mine exploration targets.
"Since production began at Clavo Rico in late 2014, Inception has produced over 12,000 ounces of gold at a recovered grade of 1.57 grams per tonne (g/t Au), by mining near surface oxide ores. During this period, our internal in-house resource estimates have proved more than adequate for these small-scale trial mining initiatives.” said Inception CEO Trent D’Ambrosio. “Moving forward, our goal is to transition towards commercial production, potentially at higher throughputs. The upcoming maiden NI 43-101 Technical Report will serve as a foundation upon which we will carefully evaluate our growth strategies at Clavo Rico.”
About Inception Mining Inc.
Inception Mining Inc. is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of gold projects in Central and North America. Inception’s core asset is the Clavo Rico gold project in Honduras, which features a heap leach facility and on-site ADR plant.
Qualified Person
J. Brian Mahoney is the Company’s Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of NI 43-101. Kyle Pickard, an independent geologist, has reviewed and verified that the technical information contained in this release is accurate.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements or information. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements with respect to the potential mineralization and geological merits of the Company properties. There can be no assurance statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such statements.
Inception Mining Inc. disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events except as required by applicable securities legislation.
(OTC QB: IMII)
5330 South 900 East, Suite 280
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117