FREEMAN'S 2025 PHASE 4 METALLURGICAL TESTWORK REPORTS >95% EXTRACTION AND CONFIRMS SIMPLE, LOW-RISK PROCESSING FOR LEMHI
Highlights
- Gold leach extraction of 91.2% to 97.4% - averaging 95.4% across 2025 variability and composite samples
- Simple, conventional flowsheet - based on 120 µm P80 primary grind and standard CIL cyanidation
- Fast leach kinetics - leach extraction substantially complete within 24 hours
- Moderate reagent consumption - average NaCN and lime consumption of 1.28 kg/t and 1.01 kg/t, respectively
- Low abrasion index - ore characterized as soft supporting low-cost conventional milling
- Excellent metallurgical performance confirmed across variability and production composites
Metallurgical Program Overview
The 2025 program included:
- 18 drill-core variability composites from the
Main Pit which included samples representing later year production (according to the PEA mineplan) - One composite each from the
Beauty Zone andSW Zone - Three production composites (early, mid, late mine life, based on the PEA mineplan)
- Five reverse-circulation (RC) samples representing the central core of the
Main Pit
Test work evaluated head assays, mineralogy, gravity concentration, cyanide leaching, comminution, and cyanide destruction. Bottle-roll leach tests were repeated under oxygenated conditions to validate leach kinetics and improve accuracy.
Gold Metallurgical Performance
Across all 2025 samples, total gold leach extraction ranged from 91.2% to 97.4%, averaging 95.4%. Results are presented in Figure 2, compared against the PEA data set.
- Cyanide consumption averaged 1.28 kg/t.
- Lime consumption averaged 1.01 kg/t.
- Bond Ball Mill Work Index averaged 16.4 kWh/t.
- SMC tests on 11 drill core samples returned an average Axb value of 138, which indicates that the ore is soft and not competent with respect to SAG breakage.
- Abrasion index tests averaged 0.13 grams.
Cyanide destruction tests using the SO₂/Air process successfully reduced CNWAD from ~1,270 ppm to below 5 ppm, well within typical discharge criteria. Reagent consumption requirements were consistent with expectations for this process.
"These metallurgical results reinforce Lemhi's potential as a high-quality, free-milling gold project with excellent recoveries and a simple, low-risk processing flowsheet," stated
Freeman will integrate the 2025 metallurgical dataset into ongoing engineering and mine planning work. Further optimization, including confirmatory intensive leach testing and reagent consumption modelling, is planned as the Company advances Lemhi toward its next phase of technical studies.
About the Company and Project
The recently updated price sensitivity analysis (see Freeman's news release dated
*Note: Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, that it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.
The technical content of this release has been reviewed and approved by
On Behalf of the Company
Chief Executive Officer
Neither the
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward‐looking information or statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws, which may include, but are not limited to, all statements related to the 2023 PEA, statements relating to exploration, results therefrom, and the Company's future business plans, and statements regarding the price sensitivity analysis and impact thereof on the evaluation of the Project's economic potential. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ from those in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects. The Company does not undertake to update forward‐looking statements or forward‐looking information, except as required by law.
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