Ireland Inc. (Pink: IRLD) today released results from recent smelting extraction tests completed at the Columbus Project, located in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Technical Program Update
As previously discussed, Ireland continues to pursue a two-pronged precious metals extraction program (smelting and leach solution treatment). The Company is seeking to remove a refractory coating of carbon polymer (CP) to facilitate gold and palladium extraction. The Company believes that the CP can be removed by either high oxidation leach and/or high temperature smelting.
Smelting - Ireland’s technical team has completed five high temperature smelting tests of sands material from its Columbus Project under similar operating parameters. Each test was completed using 1000 grams of extracted sands. Both gold and palladium were successfully extracted with this process. While the range of extraction results remains inconsistent (see chart below), the log average extraction results from this series of tests were 0.18 opt gold and the 0.05 opt palladium.
These are the first smelting results in a series of ongoing tests. As metallurgical work at the Columbus Project continues, results will be released as they become available to the Company.
Test | Au opt | Log Au | Pd opt | Log Pd | ||||||||||||
2A-1 | 4.887 | 0.689 | 0.861 | -0.065 | ||||||||||||
2A-10 | 0.131 | -0.883 | 0.033 | -1.482 | ||||||||||||
2A-4 | 0.110 | -0.960 | 0.020 | -1.696 | ||||||||||||
2A-5 | 0.138 | -0.861 | 0.015 | -1.819 | ||||||||||||
2A-2 | 0.021 | -1.678 | 0.027 | -1.567 | ||||||||||||
Average (opt) | 1.057 | 0.183 | 0.191 | 0.047 | ||||||||||||
Leach Solution Treatment — In addition to the ongoing smelting extraction program, the Company continues to engage in leach extraction tests.
Samples of PLS (pregnant leach solution) were treated at a private lab that specializes in organic removal from solutions and those samples have been treated and returned to the Company. The Company believes that testing of the post treated PLS has shown encouraging results and intends to conduct further testing. Ireland expects to receive these results in early July.
Readers are cautioned that the materials sampled for the tests shown above are all from a single area within the Columbus Project site, and may not be indicative of results for the rest of the North Sand Zone or the Columbus Project as a whole. Ireland believes that, because the project site is comprised of alluvial soil, mineralization deposits are wide spread throughout the Columbus Project site. Third party chain of custody protocols were not observed during current testing as Ireland personnel are assisting in sample collection and preparation. In addition, in the past, Ireland has encountered difficulties when attempting to translate extraction results achieved under laboratory conditions to the larger scale on-site pilot plant.
Financial Update
Ireland has sufficient funds to continue with its current technical program until the end of May 2018. To maximize its available funds, the Company is currently reviewing additional cost cutting measures, including the elimination of senior administrative roles as well as making changes to the technical program and reducing overhead expenses.
The Company is seeking to raise additional funds from already identified sources. Any additional funds raised by the Company will be used to continue the technical program, hire additional technical personnel and appoint a new board of directors.
If the Company is unable to raise additional funds, then the Company may wind down and cease operations.
About Ireland Inc.
Based in Henderson, Nevada, Ireland Inc. (www.irelandminerals.com) is a minerals exploration and development Company that targets properties containing large-scale deposits of precious metals in the southwestern United States. In early 2008, Ireland completed the acquisition of the Columbus Project located in Esmeralda County, NV, near Tonopah.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document may include statements that constitute “forward-looking” statements, usually containing the words “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect,” “plans” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, Ireland’s limited operating history, future trends in mineral prices, the availability of capital, geological or mechanical difficulties affecting Ireland’s planned geological work programs, and uncertainties surrounding estimates of mineralized material. Extraction rates and mineralization grades from test results on individual samples may not be representative of extraction rates or grades that can be obtained from other samples or from commercial scale extraction efforts. Additional exploration work will be required to fully define the extent of the Columbus Project’s mineralized areas and before proved or probable mineral reserves can be established. There is no assurance that the results of Ireland’s exploration of pre-feasibility programs will result in a decision to enter into commercial production. In addition, Ireland’s actual financial and capital requirements may be greater than projected and there is no assurance that Ireland will be able to raise sufficient financing to proceed with its exploration and development plans or finance its ongoing business activities. If Ireland is not able to raise sufficient funds to proceed with its exploration and development plants, Ireland may wind down and cease operations. Ireland undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this document.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) permits U.S. mining companies to disclose in their filings with the SEC only “reserve estimates,” which are those parts of a mineral deposit that Ireland can economically and legally extract or produce at the time the estimate is made. Ireland may use certain terms in this press release such as “measured,” “indicated,” and “inferred” “resources.” SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including these terms in their filings with the SEC. Further, inferred resource estimates generally may not be used as the basis for pre-feasibility or feasibility studies. There are no assurances that any resource estimates can be economically or legally extracted or produced or that any of these resource estimates will ever be converted to reserves. There are also no assurances that any inferred resource estimates will be converted into indicated or measured resources. The mineralization estimates provided in this release are based on internal calculations and have not been independently confirmed.
Investors are advised to carefully review the reports and documents that Ireland Inc. files from time to time with the SEC, particularly its Annual, Quarterly and Current Reports, which may be obtained from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.
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Investor Relations Contact:
Bibicoff + MacInnis, Inc.
Terri MacInnis, VP Investor Relations
818.379.8500
terri@bibimac.com