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August 25, 2011
Vancouver, BC, Canada - Fire River Gold Corp. and Mystery Creek
Resources Inc. (TSX.V: FAU), (OTCQX: FVGCF), (FSE: FWR)
(collectively "the Company") are pleased to provide this update for the
Nixon Fork Mine. It provides a summary of the progress of mining and
milling activities.
Mill commissioning started on July 4th 2011 and it has operated since
that time at an average availability of 71%. A total of 3,078 tons of
ore was processed in July and approximately 2,500 so far this month.
Only gravity and flotation circuits are being operated at this time,
while the CIL plant is still under construction. The current mill feed
head grade is averaging approximately 20 g/t.
Over 30 tonnes of copper concentrate has been produced containing 18%
Cu, 779 g/t Au, and 398 g/t Ag. A total of 21 bags of concentrate
weighing 18,300 kg have been shipped to Anchorage using a Hercules L-100
aircraft.
The concentrate has been markedly improved in comparison to the last
production period by increasing the grades and decreasing the moisture
content as follows:
|
Year |
Cu % |
Au g/t |
Ag g/t |
% Moisture |
|
2011 |
18.2 |
779 |
398 |
9.0 |
|
2007 |
12.6 |
337 |
184 |
22.8 |
|
Change |
5.6 |
442 |
215 |
-13.8 |
The moisture content has been further
reduced to less than 6% in the most recent bags.
Gravity separation has recovered approximately 500 ounces of gold in the
gravity concentrate, which will be poured into a 30 kg doré bar.
Total gold recovery has averaged 78% (24% from gravity and 54% in the
copper concentrate) which is close to expectations. By comparison,
recovery averaged 68% in 2007. Total gold recovery will increase
substantially with the addition of leaching as a third gold recovery
process.
Approximately 4,000 tonnes of ore has been mined to-date from five
stopes using room and pillar extraction. The mine is currently producing
approximately 170 tonnes per day at a grade of 18 g/t.
The property is evaluating other stoping methods, including longhole to
reduce costs and increase productivity. Equipment has been acquired to
test these other methods, including a remote control scooptram and drill
buggy. Non-explosive ore extraction is also being tested using scaling
machines with considerable success.
The Qualified Person for this news release is Richard Goodwin, P.Eng,
President & C.O.O for Fire River Gold.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Richard Goodwin"
Richard Goodwin
President and COO
Certain information regarding the Company including management's
assessment of future plans and operations, may constitute forward-looking
statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve risks
associated with mining exploration and development, volatility of prices,
currency fluctuations, imprecision of resource estimates, environmental and
permitting risks, access to labour and services, competition from other
companies and ability to access sufficient capital. As a consequence, actual
results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking
statements. A feasibility study has not been completed and there is no certainty
the disclosed targets will be reached nor that the proposed operations will be
economically viable. The TSX Venture Exchange or its Regulation Services
Provider have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of the contents of this news release, which has been prepared
by management. We seek
safe harbour.
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