Bio Leaching Timeline

Whilst it was exciting to hear about a bio leaching procedure being employed by NAG to extract gold fines from our HLP I was surprised that we will have to wait until 2022 to see some gold.

However - there more I looked into a possible timeline the more I realised that 2022 is far more probable that any wishfull thinking on my behalf.

Keeping in mind we live in a covid world most plans have to allow for prolonged timelines which include freighting a few hundred kilos of soil samples to the US and waiting out turn to have our samples examined - especially if they have to go through Los Angeles.

We also have to make sure that the bacteria tested is

a) suitable to our soil
b) suited to Nagambie's climate
c) able to detect gold
d) able to neutralize any cyanide
e) able to neutralize any arsenic
f) ensure the bacteria all get along and don't eat each other

Choosing the right bacteria will be crucial to maximising our gold production and leaving ''cleansed'' tailings suitable for gravel and road base.

The difference between having 40% or 60% recovery effectiveness can involve millions of dollars when we are dealing with 5.5 million tonnes of ore - so the finding the best bacteria is crucial.

Having 5.5 million tonnes of clean fill will attract a higher price than fill laced with cyanide and arsenic.

So I think finding the right 3 bacterias - with something like 7000 bacteria to choose from - will not happen over a week end but could take up to 6-8 months. Then there is the testing and setup of some CAPEX - hopefully in a non covid world.

Just my thoughts