TVI Pacific completes third Balabag gold doré shipment, Philippines
TVI Pacific Inc. [TVI-TSXV; TVIPF-OTC] has completed a third shipment of gold doré bars from the Balabag gold and silver project located in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines. Balabag is 100%-owned by TVI Resource Development Phils. Inc. (TVIRD), a Philippine corporation in which TVI holds a 30.66% interest.
The third shipment of gold doré totalled 899 kilograms contained 875 ounces of gold and 27,556 ounces of silver for 1,246 gold equivalent ounces that generated gross proceeds of US$2.3 million.
Balabag mill plant availability month-to-date has been 85% and it is currently processing at a month-to-date average rate of 1,035 dry metric tonnes per day (“tpd”) with a continued focus to optimize the operation and to ramp-up throughput to 2,000 tpd. The average recoveries month-to-date have been 91% for gold and 84% for silver. The average head grade month-to-date has been 1.9 g/t gold and 96.4 g/t silver.
This brings total shipped-to-date to 3,501 gold equivalent ounces and total gross proceeds generated thus far to US$6.3 million since the first shipment was completed on September 30, 2021.
Mining operations are now feeding the plant directly and it is expected the average grade of feed will increase as higher-grade mineralized resource is mined. The run of mine (ROM) mineralized stockpile, in-pit stockpile and crushed mineralized stockpile currently contains an approximate 110,000 tonnes of mineralized material, much of which is low to marginal grade and has been mined to expose the higher-grade mineralized resource during waste stripping and bench forming. The stockpiles have an average grade of 1.3 g/t gold and 48.9 g/t silver.
A total of 28 drillholes have been completed in the previously announced Phase 5B drilling program for a total of 3,897 metres. A total of 30 drillholes are now planned in this program with one ongoing and and one yet to be drilled with an estimated meterage of 4,200 metres. The Phase 5B drilling program together with assays and reporting is currently expected to be completed in Q4 2021.
“We are starting to see some regularity in shipments now coming from Balabag while TVIRD continues to focus upon optimizing the operation to ramp-up throughput to 2,000 tpd and improve recoveries. The process is working well and the team’s experience has proven advantageous,” said Cliff James, Chairman and CEO of TVI and Chairman of TVIRD. “We are happy to report also that work is continuing on Stage 2 of the Tailings Storage Facility that is being constructed in stages to accommodate progressively increasing resources as they are defined through our current and future drilling programs.”
TVIRD, a Philippine corporation in which TVI holds a 30.66% interest, is a diversified mining company that focuses on the acquisition, exploration, development and production of resource projects in the Philippines. TVIRD has a pool of highly competent managers, technical personnel and skilled workers with previous experience in gold-silver operation and owns 100% of the Balabag gold/silver project, 100% of the Siana gold project and Mapawa project, and a 60% interest in Agata Mining Ventures Inc. (“AMVI”), a direct shipping Nickel/Iron operation that commenced in October 2014 and in which TVIRD is operator. AMVI has shipped a total of 18.30 million wet metric tonnes of nickel laterite ore through 336 shipments through to September 30, 2021.