• BBX Minerals (BBX) confirms “excellent” bioleaching testwork results on a composite sample from a drill hole at its Três Estados gold project in Brazil
• The test showed a “significant” increase in five-element (5E) precious metals following the bioleaching process compared to previous assays from the same drill hole
• However, BBX says the results may not be indicative of the overall mineral resource estimate mineralisation, and additional work is required on composites above and below this zone
• Pilot plant testing of the remaining sample will begin between Christmas and New Year’s and take several weeks before more results are released
• Shares in BBX Minerals are up 23.29 per cent and trading at nine cents at 2:19 pm AEDT

BBX Minerals (BBX) has confirmed “excellent” bioleaching testwork results on a composite sample from a drill hole at its Três Estados gold project in Brazil.

The goal of this investigative test work was to demonstrate how the Três Estados complexmineralisation responded to EcoBiome’s patent-pending microbial technology.

The tests showed a “significant” increase in five-element (5E) precious metals following the bioleaching process compared to previous assays from the same drill hole

BBX said the results confirmed a recovered grade of 95.38 grams per tonne (g/t) 5E precious metals. Specifically, the test returned 14.13 g/t gold, 79.27 g/t palladium, 0.17 g/t platinum, 0.72 g/t iridium and 1.1 g/t rhodium.

However, the company said these results may not be indicative of the overall mineral resource estimate mineralisation, and additional work is required on composites from above and below the zone.

EcoBiome utilised a 36-metre interval of a five-kilogram sample from a homogenised 50.4-kilogram composite to demonstrate and prove the ability to extract and recover 5E precious metals from an unprocessed ore sample.

“The recent results from EcoBiome are excellent, especially since the material used was from the Tres Estados JORC resource area,” BBX CEO Andre J Douchane said.

“The remainder of the 50-kilogram sample will be used for pilot plant testing scheduled to start just after Christmas, and while we could see some initial results late this year, there is a lot of incremental work to be completed to begin understanding the process controls.

“Believe me, even though there’s a lot of work to be done, we’re very excited with the results!”

The company said the pilot plant testing was the next step in leaching to a full commercial project for the enhanced recovery of PGMs throughout all BBX resources.

Shares in BBX Minerals were up 23.29 per cent and trading at nine cents at 2:19 pm AEDT.