Searchlight Minerals Corp. (OTCBB: SRCH) (the "Company"), an
exploration stage minerals company focused on the acquisition and
development of projects in the southwestern United States, is
pleased to provide the following update on activities at its
Clarkdale Slag Project in Clarkdale, Arizona.
Since the Company received all regulatory approval for the
operation of its initial production module in January 2009, the
Company has been testing the operation of the major equipment
components and processing circuits within its 100 to 250
ton-per-day production module. The Company has focused on
optimizing the results of operations of its precious metals circuit
for the extraction of gold and silver.
"Our initial goal has been to achieve consistent levels of gold
and silver extraction from pregnant solution and resins that would
support the economic feasibility of a commercial production
facility," stated Ian McNeil, Chief Executive Officer of the
Company. "I am pleased to report that we have made progress in this
regard. Our internal laboratory testing has reflected consistent
levels of extractable precious metals in pregnant leach solutions
from the Clarkdale slag material. We believe that we can improve
extraction rates further by optimizing the grind, the chemical
characteristics of the leach solutions and the amount of residence
time required for maximum grind and leach efficiency.
"Our crews have been running the precious metals circuit for
several weeks, and we have started to internally generate
consistent levels of extractable precious metals, including gold
and silver, on a repetitive basis. We have also commissioned tests
by independent and unaffiliated external laboratories to test and
analyze the pregnant leach solutions for precious metals content.
Although not final, the external labs have verbally and
preliminarily indicated to us that they have achieved similar
results to our internally generated findings.
The Company is also commencing an additional analytical check of
producing physical precious metals by fuming the loaded resins to
calculate extractable precious metals. "We intend to use both
analytical methods in order to evaluate our internal results
through the testing by independent laboratories, and to compare the
results to the previous chain-of-custody certification of the gold
grade of the slag pile," added McNeil.
"Based upon the preliminary results of the tests conducted by
these laboratories, the Company has now reached the stage where it
will soon engage an independent engineering firm to analyze the
internal operating results of the gold circuit, which we believe
comprises the majority of the potential value of the entire
Clarkdale Project," continued McNeil. "We will ask the independent
engineers to determine (1) that gold can be recovered from the slag
using our process and (2) the amount of troy ounces of gold
recoverable per ton of slag. This independent evaluation process
will be conducted in accordance with chain-of-custody standards. If
these prospective independent studies validate our preliminary
internal results, we believe that we will have a better
understanding of how to pursue the next milestones in the
achievement of our strategic business goals."
Current Operations
The Clarkdale facility is currently operating twenty-four hours
a day, seven days a week, in order to optimize the efficiency of
the first production module. The team at Clarkdale processes
material daily through the crushing and grinding circuits, with the
output from the vibratory grinder then delivered to the Company's
on-site laboratory for leaching and metals extraction analysis.
Full-scale leaching is also underway, and the chlorine dioxide
generator, a chemical feed to the leach circuit, has been installed
and is fully functional. Currently, the 'pregnant' leach solution
is being routed through a state-of-the-art series of Ion Exchange
(IX) recovery columns that are designed to extract gold and silver
from solution and load the metals on chelating resins with an
affinity for only precious metals.
"Our primary emphasis, to date, has been upon the optimization
of the crushing and grinding circuit, since a proper grind is
critical to the liberation of the sub-micron gold and silver
particles from tiny vienlets within the slag material," continued
McNeil. "Feed material must be properly ground and slurried into
the leaching tanks, where precious and base metals are dissolved
into solution. Upon exiting the series of six agitator tanks in the
leaching circuit, the remaining solids are removed in a filtration
system, leaving a 'pregnant solution' from which the metals can be
extracted in the IX recovery columns.
"During the 'shakedown' process that has been underway since
January, we have encountered a variety of challenges and delays not
uncommon to the start-up phase of any complex production process
designed to operate on a continuous basis. For example, the failure
of a heavy-duty mount beneath the 50-ton vibratory grinder
curtailed operations during February, and while the manufacturer
replaced the component under warranty as soon as possible, we lost
approximately two weeks of valuable grinding time as a result. All
components of the grinding circuit have been operating efficiently
since that time, and we have made progress in perfecting the grind
and evaluating resonance times in the grinder.
"We have experienced and overcome certain challenges within our
leach circuit, where the agitators, which are critical to the leach
process, had to be altered during the scale-up period. We were also
faced with some water balance issues following the addition of
certain chemicals to the circuit. Additionally, we have altered the
filtration circuit to accommodate the very fine material. We expect
to encounter other challenges as we progress towards continuous
plant operations, and I am confident in our team's ability to
address such issues on a timely basis as they arise.
"Even though the Project has taken longer than any of us desired
or expected, management and our technical team of advisors are very
pleased with the results that have been achieved. The Company will
be very active as we complete the independent verification of the
precious metals circuit and continue our progress towards running
the plant on a continuous basis once the base metal extraction
circuits are commissioned.
"It is important to recognize that commissioning of the base
metals circuits for the extraction of copper and zinc should be
forthcoming on a timely basis. During the start-up of the gold
circuit, the Company had to commission the crushing, grinding,
leaching, filtering and extraction processes. Start-up of the base
metals circuit begins with the pregnant solution and focuses on a
two-stage extraction process comprised of Ion Exchange resin
extraction and the electrowinning (EW) of plated metals. All of the
major equipment components have been installed in the EW building,
which is located adjacent to our primary production facility.
"Once the EW circuit has been commissioned and optimized, we
believe the Company will be able to start extracting copper and
zinc from pregnant solutions and operating the entire production
module on a continuous basis. The final two steps will involve a
feasibility study of the entire plant and assuming adequate sources
of financing are available, we anticipate expanding capacity by
adding multiple production modules," concluded McNeil.
About Searchlight Minerals Corp.
Searchlight Minerals Corp. is a minerals exploration company
focused on the acquisition and development of projects in the
southwestern United States. The Company is currently involved in
two projects: (1) the Clarkdale Slag Project, located in Clarkdale,
Arizona, is a reclamation project to recover precious and base
metals from the reprocessing of slag produced from the smelting of
copper ores mined at the United Verde Copper Mine in Jerome,
Arizona; and (2) the Searchlight Gold Project, which involves
exploration for precious metals on mining claims near Searchlight,
Nevada. The Clarkdale Project is the more advanced of two ongoing
projects that the Company is pursuing. The Searchlight Gold Project
is an early-stage gold exploration endeavor on 3,200 acres located
approximately 50 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Searchlight Minerals Corp. is headquartered in Henderson,
Nevada, and its common stock is listed on the OTC Bulletin Board
under the symbol "SRCH." Additional information is available on the
Company's website at www.searchlightminerals.com and in the
Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Forward-Looking Statements
This Press Release may contain, in addition to historical
information, forward-looking statements. Statements in this news
release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed
under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's
periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
When used in this news release, the words such as "could," "plan,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and
similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. The risk
factors that could cause actual results to differ from these
forward-looking statements include, but are not restricted to the
Company's limited operating history, uncertainties about the
availability of additional financing, geological or mechanical
difficulties affecting the Company's planned geological or other
work programs, uncertainty of estimates of mineralized material,
operational risk, environmental risk, financial risk, currency risk
and other statements that are not historical facts as disclosed
under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's
periodic filings with securities regulators in the United States.
Consequently, risk factors including, but not limited to the
aforementioned, may result in significant delays to the projected
or anticipated production target dates.
Contact Information: Carl Ager Vice President (702) 939-5247
Email Contact or RJ Falkner & Company, Inc. Investor Relations
Counsel (800) 377-9893 Email Contact
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