Outstanding Results Achieved From Mechanical Sorting Tests Completed at TOMRA’s Testing Facility in Sydney, Australia and Wedel, Germany

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (“Novo” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NVO; OTCQX: NSRPF) has recently conducted mechanical, sensor based sorting tests on Egina and Beatons Creek bulk sample material at TOMRA’s Sydney, Australia and Wedel, Germany testing facilities.

Highlights:

Sydney, Australia: Test work conducted utilizing a TOMRA COM XRT 1200 - Gen 1.0 mechanical sorter using X-Ray Transmission (“XRT”) scanning is summarized below:

Egina:

• Testing was conducted on 5.4 t of material sieved to three size fractions: +0/-6mm, +6/-18mm and +18/-50mm, with known quantities of test nuggets introduced into the samples commensurate with each size fraction to test recovery effectiveness.
• Outstanding results were achieved for all Egina size fractions, (please refer to summary table below) with 100% of gold recovered in 1.2% of the mass of the +18/-50mm size fraction, 100% of gold recovered in 0.3% of the mass of the +6/-18mm size fraction and 92% (by weight) of gold recovered in 0.1% of the mass of +0/-6mm size fraction. To better test recovery of the +0/-6mm size fraction, bulk material was delivered to TOMRA’s laboratory in Wedel, Germany for testing on a new prototype fines sorting machine (please refer to “Wedel, Germany” summary below).

Beatons Creek:

• Testing in Sydney was conducted on 2.8 t of crushed (-50 mm) and screened Beatons Creek bulk sample material sieved to two size fractions: +6/-18mm and +18/-50mm.
• Analyses conducted as part of this test work generated a calculated head grade of 4.20 gpt Au for the sample.
• Testing was conducted at near expected production rates for this material, with the +18/-50mm size fraction tested at 51 tph and +6/-18mm size fraction tested at 23 tph. An impressive 94% of gold was recovered in 43% of the mass of the +18/-50 mm fraction and 82% of gold was recovered in 37% of the mass of the +6/-18 mm fraction.
• To better test recovery of the +0/-6MM size fraction, bulk material was delivered to TOMRA’s laboratory in Wedel, Germany for testing on a new prototype fines sorting machine (please refer to “Wedel, Germany” summary below).

Wedel, Germany: Test work conducted on TOMRA’s Fine Diamond Recovery (“FDR”) prototype, with ultra high resolution X-Ray Transmission (“XRT”) scanner is summarized below:

Egina:

• Outstanding results achieved for Egina +0/-6mm sized material from TOMRA’s FDR, with 100% of introduced gold nuggets recovered, the smallest of which is 0.7mm smallest dimension (see Figure 1 depicting recovered gold nuggets).
• 120 out of 120 nuggets collectively weighing 7.17g were recovered in just 35.5g of concentrate from 54kg of test material, representing 100% recovery in 0.07% of the original mass. (see video of nuggets being processed and sorted by the FDR: ).

Beatons Creek:

• A sub-sample of the Beatons Creek +0/-6mm was further sieved into +0/-2mm and +2mm/-6mm size fractions. Three trials were conducted on the coarser size fraction and four trials on the finer size fraction, with each test running adjusted scanning programs to alter the mass pull into accepts and rejects.
• Samples of the accept and reject material have been delivered to Minanalytical Laboratories in Perth, WA and subjected to Chrysos^TM PhotonAssay to determine gold content to assess recovery. Novo will notify the market of the effectiveness of this sorting method once results have returned.

Summary of mechanical sorting test results from a 5.4 tonne Egina bulk sample (Sydney):

Summary of mechanical sorting test results from a 2.8 tonne Beatons Creek bulk sample (Sydney):

“These very encouraging results utilizing TOMRA mechanical, sensor based sorters lend further support to the effectiveness of mechanical sorting technology to substantially upgrade and/or process Novo’s nuggety gold deposit styles”, commented Rob Humphryson, CEO and a director of Novo. “Field trials with larger bulk samples under production conditions are needed to validate these highly encouraging, indicative laboratory test results. TOMRA, Steinert and third-party providers have suitable mechanical sorting units available for hire, and plans are well underway to deploy a mechanical sorter into the field this season. We are fortunate to have two world class mechanical sorter providers vying for our business, each with substantial technical support available and commitments to ongoing research and development. Irrespective of which unit is first deployed into the field, we intend to maintain positive working relationships with both major providers to ensure we leverage the inevitable operational improvements resulting from their demonstrated commitment to ongoing research and development in the field of direct gold sorting”.

Description of Test Work

Beatons Creek

A total of approximately 5.6 tonnes of costean-sourced material collected during the bulk sampling program conducted at Beatons Creek in 2018 (see the Company’s new releases dated December 13, 2018 - – and January 29, 2020 - ) was crushed and screened at Bureau Veritas’ laboratories in Perth, Western Australia. Sample material was then screened to +0.0/-6.0 mm, +6.0/-18.0 mm and +18.0/-50.0 mm, the same size fractions used during Egina test work (see the Company’s new release dated December 17, 2019 - ). Half of this material, approximately 2.8 tonnes, was delivered to TOMRA’s mechanical sorting test facility in Castle Hill, New South Wales for test work. Sub-samples of the latter were forwarded to Germany for testing in February 2020, which was further screened into +0/-2mm and +2mm/-6mm size fractions to better test the effects of mechanical sorting at very small size fractions. Utilizing small hand-sorted batches of Beatons Creek material, TOMRA personnel configured suitable scanning methodologies to determine which scanning mode is most efficient at identifying gold particles, with XRT favoured for testing purposes.

Egina

A total of approximately 5.4 tonnes of bulk sample material, sourced late 2018 from an area adjacent to Novo’s first Egina bulk sample (please see the Company’s new release dated December 13, 2018 - ) was screened at Bureau Veritas’ laboratories in Perth, Western Australia into 3 size fractions : +0.0/-6.0 mm, +6.0/-18.0 mm and +18.0/-50.0 mm. Owing to the non-destructive nature of Minanalytical’s Chrysos^TM PhotonAssay technique, the Steinert test samples were able to be recombined in totality and forwarded to TOMRA’s Sydney facility, with a small sub-sample of the fines fraction forwarded to TOMRA’s laboratory in Wedel, Germany. Each size fraction was ‘seeded’ with nuggets to enable a demonstration of gold recovery effectiveness. Gold nuggets were recovered by sifting through the accepts concentrates and identifying the gold by naked eye. Assessment of the recovery of very small gold particles of less than one mm must be made by analytic means as these grains are too small to separate from concentrates by naked eye (see Figure 2 depicting TOMRA personnel hand picking 120 nuggets from 35.5g of concentrate). Minanalytical’s Chrysos^TM PhotonAssay technique will be used to analyze samples at which point Novo can comment further about the ultimate recovery rate of gold.

Dr. Quinton Hennigh, P. Geo., the Company’s president, chairman, and a director, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has approved the technical contents of this news release.

About Novo Resources Corp.

Novo’s focus is to explore and develop gold projects in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and Novo has built up a significant land package covering approximately 13,000 sq km with varying ownership interests. For more information, please contact Leo Karabelas at (416) 543-3120 or e-mail 

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

Novo Resources Corp.

“Quinton Hennigh”

Quinton Hennigh

President and Chairman

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-looking information

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) including, without limitation, statements as to planned testing activities. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the mineral resource industry as well as the performance of services by third parties.

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