North Bay Resources (OTC:NBRI) is progressing with optimizing gold production at its Fran Gold Project in Canada. The company has recently shipped 344 pounds of gold concentrate to Just Refiners in Nevada, derived from processing 15 tons of ore at its Bishop Gold Mill in California. Simultaneously, sample splits have been dispatched to ALS Geochemical for analysis. Recent improvements to the processing infrastructure include repairs to the raker classifier and replacement of balls in the ball mill, targeting a finer grind of minus 150 mesh, deemed optimal for gold recovery. The current concentrate is sourced from the gravity-only circuit, while the flotation circuit undergoes optimization and testing. Metallurgical studies suggest that a combined gravity and flotation circuit could achieve recoveries up to 97%.
North Bay has completed reagent feeder testing for the flotation process and is determining the optimal implementation strategy based on prior metallurgical work. A centrifuge has been added for gravity primary design, requiring reagents to be added post-gravity recovery. The company is evaluating single-step versus two-phase reagent mixing and anticipates a decision soon, followed by full-scale implementation of the flotation circuit. The Fran Project, spanning 34,360 acres, is located near major copper-gold mines, including Centerra Gold’s Mt Milligan and Artemis Gold’s Blackwater Mine. North Bay has defined a significant gold deposit at Fran, prompting a re-evaluation of the deposit with 3D modeling and resource estimation software to define a resource.
