This report describes the recovery methods for the Hammerdown Gold Project, including proposed new crushing and sorting facilities at the Hammerdown deposit and the existing Pine Cove process plant.
Report context
This technical report for the Hammerdown Gold Project, located in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, carries an effective date of February 18, 2026. The report documents the existing Pine Cove process plant, which has operated since 2012 and resumed operations in 2025 after a period of care and maintenance from 2022 to 2025. The Pine Cove process plant commenced treating material from the Hammerdown deposit in Q4 2025. The report also outlines proposed modifications including installation of a three-stage crushing and screening plant with an ore sorting facility at the Hammerdown deposit.
Processing route
Current Operations
The Pine Cove process plant currently treats material via a conventional grind-flotation-leach-Merrill Crowe flowsheet to nominally process 700 t/d material. Run-of-mine material is currently processed via a two-stage crushing plant at the Hammerdown deposit and then hauled to the Pine Cove plant.
Proposed Hammerdown Crushing and Sorting Facility
It is proposed to install a three-stage crushing and sorting facility at the Hammerdown deposit. Testwork demonstrated that the crushed mineralization is highly amenable to sorting, with an average of 50% to 55% of the sorter feed mineralization being separated as waste material and rejected out of the sorting circuit. The crushing and sorting plant is designed to facilitate a throughput of 1,200 t/d with an average life of mine feed grade of approximately 2.19 g/t Au. Both the crushing and sorting circuits will operate at an availability of 73%, resulting in a nominal plant throughput of 137 t/h, with capacity up to 164 t/h to process lower grade material at a higher rate.
The proposed Hammerdown facility will include primary crushing using a vibrating grizzly feeder and jaw crusher in open circuit producing a product P80 of approximately 70 mm, followed by a triple deck vibrating screen with deck openings of 60 mm, 35 mm and 10 mm. The oversize material will feed the secondary crusher. Secondary crushing will use a single stage cone crusher in closed circuit with the triple deck vibrating screen, producing a final product P80 of approximately 40 mm.
Sorting will employ two X-Ray Transmission sorters operating in parallel, processing different size fractions: the primary sorter processing +35 to 60 mm material and the secondary sorter processing +10 to 35 mm feed. Tertiary crushing will use a single stage cone crusher in open circuit producing a final product P80 of approximately 7.1 mm.
Three stockpiles will be produced from the sorting facility: one for crushed product conveyed to a load-out facility and trucked for further processing, screen undersize fines conveyed to its own load-out facility, and the other re-handled to either waste rock or low-grade stockpiles.
Pine Cove Process Plant Description
The Pine Cove process plant consists of primary grinding via a single stage ball mill producing a nominal grind size of P80 of 125 µm, followed by a flotation circuit of rougher and cleaner column flotation cells producing a gold-pyrite concentrate. The concentrate mass pull is approximately 7% to 8%. Flotation concentrate is thickened in a 7.6 m diameter thickener, reground in a regrind ball mill to a nominal size of P80 of less than 20 µm, then leached via cyanidation in mechanically agitated tanks with a residence time of approximately 72 hours.
Leach slurry is dewatered via drum filters and pregnant solution is treated through a Merrill Crowe circuit with leaf filter clarifiers, vacuum de-aeration, zinc dust precipitation, and plate and frame filter presses to recover gold. Filter cake is dried and smelted in an induction furnace with fluxes to produce gold doré and slag.
Tailings are treated via a cyanide destruction circuit using the SO2/air process in two mechanically agitated tanks, with copper sulphate as catalyst, lime for pH control, and SMBS as a source of SO2. Detoxified leach tailings and flotation tailings are pumped to the in-pit tailings storage facility.
Key reported parameters
| Parameter | Unit | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hammerdown Crushing and Sorting Plant | |||
| Crushing plant throughput | t/d | 1,200 | Mine plan |
| LOM average Au head grade | g/t | 2.19 | Mine plan |
| Plant availability | % | 73 | Industry standard |
| Nominal plant throughput | t/h | 137 | Engineering calculation |
| Maximum plant throughput | t/h | 164 | Engineering calculation |
| ROM top size | mm | 600 | Vendor simulation |
| Final product P80 | mm | 7.1 | Vendor simulation |
| Screen undersize P80 | mm | 6.1 to 7.8 | Vendor simulation |
| Screen undersize | % | 20 to 27 | Vendor simulation |
| Average sorting gold recovery (HAM) | % | 92.5 | Sorting testwork |
| Overall circuit recovery (HAM) | % | 93.1 | Sorting testwork |
| Average sorting gold recovery (ORN) | % | 89.4 | Sorting testwork |
| Overall circuit recovery (ORN) | % | 91.7 | Sorting testwork |
| Total circuit reject | % | 40 | Sorting testwork |
| Primary sorter mass pull | % | 53 | Engineering calculation |
| Secondary sorter mass pull | % | 53 | Engineering calculation |
| Sorter feed rejected | % | 47 | Design consideration |
| Pine Cove Process Plant | |||
| Nominal plant throughput | t/d | 700 | Design |
| Primary grind size P80 | µm | 125 | Design |
| Regrind size P80 | µm | <20 | Design |
| Concentrate mass pull | % | 7 to 8 | Operating data |
| Leach residence time | hours | 72 | Design |
| Water consumption | m³/yr | 80,000 (reclaim), 18,000 (raw) | Operating data |
Project website: https://newfoundgold.ca/new-found-gold-files-hammerdown-gold-project-ni-43-13449/
Project website: https://www.gov.nl.ca/eccc/projects/project-2091/
Project website: https://www.juniorminingnetwork.com/junior-miner-news/press-releases/1227-tsx-venture/mae/191261-maritime-announces-first-gold-from-hammerdown.html
Technical qualifications
This report presents the proposed design for the Hammerdown crushing and sorting facility based on testwork results. Process design criteria and mass balances for the sorting plant were developed from sorting testwork programs. The report notes that the crushing and sorting plant will be designed to handle varying levels of dilution accompanying the mineralization. The Pine Cove process plant description is based on historical operating data since 2012, with operations having been under care and maintenance from 2022 to 2025 before resuming on low-grade stockpiles. The flowsheets presented in the report are simplified representations.
Source: Hammerdown Gold Project Technical Report, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, Effective Date: February 18, 2026, Sections 1.14 and 17.
