Ascot Resources processing ore at Premier gold project, British Columbia

Ascot Resources Ltd. [TSX-AOT; OTCQX-AOTVF] has commenced ore processing at the Premier gold project, located on Nisga’a Nation treaty lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. Rock was introduced into the grinding circuit of the mill on March 31, 2024, and the first ore was introduced into the mill on April 5, 2024.

Derek White, president and CEO, commented: “The start of ore processing is a momentous achievement for the whole team at Ascot and an exciting milestone for the company. Most project construction activities are substantially completed, and commissioning activities are ongoing throughout the processing plant with the aim of pouring first gold this month.”

As is customary for processing plant start-ups, waste rock was initially introduced into the grinding circuit in order to pad the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and ball mill liners with barren material. Once that commissioning step was completed, the grinding system was retorqued and gold-bearing ore was introduced into the mill on April 5, 2024. Commissioning activities are currently focused on the remaining components of the processing plant — namely the gravity concentration and intensive leaching circuit, the carbon regeneration circuit, the elution circuit, cyanide destruction, and the gold room.

The tailings storage facility (TSF), new water treatment plant (WTP), tailings thickener and pipeline systems are ready for operations.

The company anticipates the pouring of first gold at the project on schedule this month.

Concurrent with progressing the development of Premier, the company continues to explore its properties for additional high-grade gold mineralization.