Richwell buys mill for Blackstone ore

A 65 ton-per- day mill will begin processing ore from Richwell Resources’ Blackstone gold property in Elmore Cty., Idaho, by mid-January.

The mill, which cost $135,000, is being installed in Fairfield, 16 miles from the Blackstone property. About 4,000 tons of ore have been mined and crushed, and are ready for processing. An additional 8,000 tons will be processed by the third quarter of 1988.

In addition to the revenues obtained from the processing, the results will be used for comparison of drill core averages to actual values obtained. Once all results are in, the company is to expand to a 250-300-ton-per-day operation, President James Hawley reports.

The property has large leach grade ore reserves and an independent study is under way to determine the best processing method in anticipation of starting heap leaching next spring.

Mill grade ore reserves have been expanded to 35,500 tons as a result of recent drilling. This ore contains an average 0.106 oz gold per ton, 23.58 oz silver, 98.8 lb copper, 22.9 lb manganese, 80 lb lead and 167 lb zinc. Drilling is also expected to expand proven tonnage well in excess of the previously reported 700,000 tons of leach grade ore, averaging 0.078 oz per ton gold.