BISHOP, Calif., Aug. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North Bay Resources Inc. (the “Company” or “North Bay”) (OTC: NBRI) is pleased to announce results from gravity recovery testing of run-of-mine ore from the Mt. Vernon Gold Mine. The run-of-mine ore was crushed in a ball mill to minus 60 mesh and run over a gravity recovery table resulting in two concentrate streams at approximately 10x concentration of gold with assay results as follows:

The testing was completed at Enviro-Chem Analytical Laboratory using run-of-mine ore from the main channel at the Mt. Vernon Gold Mine. While metallurgical testing is ongoing, initial results have confirmed the viability of extraction of gold, platinum, and silver using a basic grind and gravity recovery circuit. The test circuit is essentially identical to the grind and gravity recovery circuit at the Company’s 100 ton per day Bishop Gold Mill. With mine and mill start-up currently underway, and as a result of the successful extraction and concentration of gold, the Company has begun testing of the on-site metals furnace and related equipment at the Mill for the purpose of upgrading concentrate into and pouring Dore bars and producing platinum buttons for shipment to the metals refinery in Reno, Nevada.

Platinum

This is the first known discovery of platinum at Mt. Vernon. There has been little historical work done on platinum at Mt. Vernon. The region, in general, is not known for platinum. The Company is completing further work on this aspect of the deposit to further understand the gold-platinum relationship and the potential for increasing the per ton value of the ore by up to 50% in select concentrate streams. Recent results show a recoverable gold to platinum ratio of up to 1:1.5 through basic grind and gravity separation. Gravity recoverable platinum, while rare is not unknown in placer type deposits. The discovery of gravity recoverable platinum represents a significant advancement at the Mt. Vernon Gold Mine.

Mt. Vernon Gold Mine

The Mt. Vernon Mine is a largely undeveloped deposit, proximate to some of the richest past producing gold mines in North America. Mt. Vernon is a permitted underground mine with modern portal, tunnel, ventilation. power, and equipment. The ore body is estimated at 954,000 tons based on the known channel (B. Hanford 2023).   The modern access tunnel at Mt. Vernon runs across the known 200-foot-wide gold bearing zone with consistent assays over 1 ounce per ton. The channel is up to 500 feet wide and extends over 2000 feet in length throughout the property. The channel varies in thickness from 4 feet to as much as 20 feet. Typically, the lower 4 feet of the channel contains the higher gold grades.