Searchlight Minerals Corp. Clarkdale Project Update
November 02 2009 - 11:27AM
Marketwired
Searchlight Minerals Corp. (OTCBB: SRCH) ("Searchlight" or the
"Company"), an exploration stage minerals company focused on
precious metals projects in the southwestern United States, today
announced recent developments at its Clarkdale Slag Project in
north-central Arizona (the "Project").
Background of the Project
The production module at the Clarkdale, Arizona site of the
Project consists of four primary process components:
1. Crushing/Grinding
2. Leaching/Filtration
3. Au/Ag Extraction = Ion Exchange Resins (IX)
4. Cu/Zn Extraction = Solvent Extraction Electrowinning
(SXEW)
Since the Company's last update in August 2009, the Company has
been working to resolve the significant technical challenges facing
the Project relating to the crushing and grinding process of the
production module in an effort to optimize the efficiency of the
circuit. The successful "mechanical liberation" of the metals from
their encapsulation within the highly refractory and abrasive slag
has been believed to be a key to the success of the Project. The
Company and its consulting engineers believe that they have
resolved the issues relating to the throughput rate of the crushing
and grinding circuit. Currently, the Company is capable of
operating the throughput in the crushing and grinding circuit on a
continuous basis.
"The most significant risk at Clarkdale has always involved
proving that the crushing and grinding circuit could liberate the
precious metals from the slag, and that the circuit could operate
continuously. We are very pleased to report success in solving the
issues regarding the operation of the crushing and grinding
circuit, thereby allowing the crushing and grinding circuit to
operate continuously in a manner and at a capacity that liberates
metals at levels consistent with the range of management's
expectations. With the help of our vendors, we also have made
significant progress in extending the life of our crushing and
grinding components," noted Ian McNeil, Chief Executive Officer of
Searchlight Minerals Corp.
Work Project Going Forward
With the gold and silver ion exchange resin circuit being
operational and the solvent exchange electrowinning circuit being
operational for copper and approaching operational status for zinc,
once the leach circuit has been configured to run continuously at
optimum productivity levels, the Company believes it will be able
to proceed with the operation of all circuits within the production
module. The Company's technical team is currently focused on
optimizing the leach circuit with the grind/leach combination that
will optimize metal extraction which can then be filtered and run
through the ion exchange resin extraction and solvent exchange
electrowinning circuits in order to extract precious and base
metals in marketable forms.
Management Team
The Company's Board of Directors has authorized the engagement
of an executive search firm to identify additional senior-level
executives that can strengthen the management team to assist the
Company in its future operations.
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 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 Press
Release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed
under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's periodic filings
with the Commission. When used in this Press Release in discussing
the recent developments on the Project, including, without
limitation, the resolution of certain issues relating to the
operation of the production module, the words such as "believe,"
"could," "may," "expect" 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 technical issues on the Project
that may affect the production module and its primary process
components, challenges in moving from pilot plant scale to
production scale, the risk that actual recoveries of base and
precious metals or other minerals re-processed from the slag
material at the Clarkdale site will not be economically feasible,
uncertainty of estimates of mineralized material, operational risk,
the Company's limited operating history, uncertainties about the
availability of additional financing, geological or mechanical
difficulties affecting the Company's planned mineral recovery
programs, the risk that actual capital costs, operating costs and
economic returns may differ significantly from the Company's
estimates, uncertainty whether the results from the Company's
feasibility studies and the results from the operation of the
production module are not sufficiently positive for the Company to
proceed with the construction of its processing facility,
operational risk, the impact of governmental and environmental
regulation, financial risk, currency risk volatility in the prices
of precious metals and other statements that are not historical
facts as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" 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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