Patriot Resources has confirmed strong silver recoveries averaging 85% from historical testwork at its Tassa project in Peru, underpinning a maiden JORC Inferred Resource of 31.4 million ounces silver equivalent. An independent metallurgical review is underway to refine recovery assumptions and support future resource upgrades.
- Historical cyanidation testwork shows 85.05% average silver recovery
- Maiden JORC Inferred Resource of 18.53Mt at 52.68 g/t AgEq (31.39Moz AgEq)
- Independent metallurgical review initiated to validate and optimise recoveries
- Drill results confirm wide, high-grade silver and significant gold mineralisation
- Plans for confirmatory testwork, infill and step-out drilling, and permitting underway
Strong Metallurgical Foundations at Tassa
Patriot Resources Limited has unveiled encouraging metallurgical results from its Tassa silver-gold project in southern Peru, confirming historical cyanidation testwork from 2009 that demonstrated an average silver recovery of 85.05%. Conducted by ALS Chemex in Peru, these tests suggest that conventional cyanide processing could be highly effective, offering a pathway to potentially low operating costs and straightforward processing routes.
The historical testwork involved six surface rock samples, with cyanide concentrations carefully controlled to 0.21% NaCN over a 12-hour leach cycle, indicating stable and efficient leaching conditions. This foundational data is now being independently reviewed by Northern Metallurgy in Queensland to validate and optimise recovery assumptions, a critical step in de-risking the project and bolstering confidence in future Mineral Resource updates.
Maiden Resource Highlights Scale and Grade
Patriot’s maiden JORC (2012) Inferred Mineral Resource at Tassa stands at 18.53 million tonnes grading 52.68 grams per tonne silver equivalent, equating to approximately 31.39 million ounces AgEq. This sizeable resource reflects a large-scale epithermal system with significant silver and gold mineralisation confirmed through a scout drilling program of 26 diamond holes totaling over 8,400 metres.
Notable drill intercepts include 60 metres at 224.2 g/t silver from 24 metres depth, including higher-grade intervals up to 383.9 g/t silver, and substantial gold intersections such as 16 metres at 1.5 g/t gold. These results underscore the project’s potential for both silver and gold production, with mineralisation open along strike and at depth.
Advancing Project De-risking and Development
Patriot is methodically advancing the Tassa project through a comprehensive metallurgical validation program. The independent review will assess the representativity of prior testwork, evaluate recovery assumptions, and scope confirmatory and optimisation testwork. This approach aims to reduce technical uncertainty and support potential upgrades to higher-confidence resource categories.
Further exploration activities are planned, including infill drilling to upgrade resource classification, step-out drilling to test extensions, and progression of permitting and approvals. The company emphasises metallurgy as a core value driver, with early indications pointing to oxide material being highly amenable to conventional cyanide processing with low reagent consumption; factors that could materially enhance project economics.
Context and Outlook
The Tassa project, located in the Moquegua region of southern Peru, benefits from established mining titles and a geological setting characterised by rhyolitic domes and epithermal mineralisation. Previous exploration by Bear Creek Mining Company and others laid the groundwork, with Patriot now building on this legacy with modern resource modelling and metallurgical insights.
While the metallurgical data is historical and requires validation, the company’s systematic approach to confirm and optimise recoveries, combined with promising drill results and a substantial maiden resource, positions Tassa as a compelling silver development opportunity. The next phases of work will be closely watched by investors seeking clarity on resource growth potential and project economics.
Bottom Line?
Patriot’s metallurgical validation and resource advancement at Tassa set the stage for a pivotal phase in unlocking the project’s silver-gold potential.
Questions in the middle?
- Will confirmatory metallurgical testwork replicate or improve upon historical silver recoveries?
- How will resource classification upgrades impact the project’s valuation and development timeline?
- What are the key permitting and environmental hurdles ahead for advancing Tassa?