Vancouver, BC (MiningIR) — Founders Metals Inc. announced its engagement with Blue Coast Research (“Blue Coast”), a leader in metallurgical research and development, to complete initial metallurgical test work on samples from the Froyo Gold Zone. Additionally, the Company reports related preliminary findings from a metallogenic study on Froyo gold mineralization conducted by the Company’s Chief Geoscientist, Dr. Vincent Combes, at Lorraine University’s GeoRessources laboratory in Nancy, France. The study indicates that Upper Antino gold mostly occurs as free gold or infilling fractures in pyrite.
Metallurgical test work
Eight 40-kilogram samples have been shipped to the Blue Coast laboratory in Parksville, British Columbia, for analysis. The initial metallurgical program comprises five composite drill core samples from the Froyo zone and three tailings samples from various tailings sites at Upper Antino. The metallurgical program will provide head grade and mineralogical characterization and test conventional methods of gold recovery, including gravity, cyanidation, and floatation.
Blue Coast provides bankable metallurgical laboratory test work and consulting services, specializing in developing precious and base metals flowsheets and evaluating various metallurgical processes and technologies, including grinding, froth flotation, cyanidation, and gravity concentration. Leveraging an experienced team of metallurgists, technicians, and support staff, with an in-house laboratory equipped for wet chemistry and fire assay, Blue Coast provides high-quality, customer-focused, and dependable test work services to advance projects quickly and efficiently.
“We look forward to working with Blue Coast Research for metallurgical test work at Antino. This will be the first study at Upper Antino and is the first step towards determining and developing the optimal processing options for gold from Froyo and the extensive Upper Antino artisanal mine tailings. We look forward to sharing these results in the coming months.”
Founders Metals President & CEO Colin Padget
Froyo metallogenic study results
Preliminary results from a metallogenic study focused on the Froyo gold mineralization provide evidence that gold occurs mostly as free gold or filling fractures in pyrite (Figure 1). Nineteen representative samples were selected from gold-bearing drill core intervals in the Froyo Gold Zone. Thin slices of each sample were examined under a microscope to determine where and how gold occurs in the system and to understand better the various controls on mineralization, such as rock type, alteration assemblages, and structures.
At Froyo, gold mineralization occurs as:
- Free gold in quartz & quartz-carbonate veins
- Free gold within sericite ± ankerite-rich mylonite zones
- Gold infill of microfractures/cracks/joints in and around sheared pyrite grains
- Rarely as micro-inclusions
- Free gold veins associated with post-shearing events
The study’s preliminary results are positive, as free and fracture-fill gold is commonly associated with high gold recoveries.
About Founders Metals Inc.
Founders Metals is a Canadian exploration company with properties in North and South America. The Company focuses on acquiring and advancing gold projects in the Guiana Shield. Its flagship asset is the 20,000 ha Antino Gold Project in Suriname, where artisanal surface/alluvial mining has produced over 500,000 gold ounces to date1. Using its diamond drilling equipment, the Company drilled over 10,000 m in 2023 and is fully financed for up to 30,000 m in 2024.
1 2022 Technical Report — Antino Project; Suriname, South America. K. Raffle, BSc, P. Geo & Rock Lefrançois, BSc, P.Geo.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
Per: “Colin Padget“
Colin Padget
President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director
Founders Metals Contact Information
Dave Burwell, Manager, Investor Relations
Tel: 403 410 7907 | [email protected]
Nick Stajduhar, Director
Tel: 780 701 3216 | [email protected]
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Company’s recently completed financings and the future or prospects of the Company. Generally, forward-looking information 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 state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to business, market, and economic risks, uncertainties, and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, other factors may cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Other factors that could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors section of the Company’s most recent annual management discussion and analysis. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
All material information on Founders Metals can be found at www.sedarplus.ca
