Black Mountain settles lease over strategic ore mill

Black Mountain Resources, the silver-focused development company with interests in the US, has settled a 45-year lease over Lakeview Mill and completed its acquisition of the Weber Silver Mine and Keep Cool Silver Mine claims.

The company recently upgraded the facilities at the Lakeview Mill and its key items, including an additional ball crusher and floatation circuit, and the mill is now capable of processing over 300 tonnes of ore per day.

The mill will be used to process ore mined from the company's Conjecture Silver Mine in Idaho following targeted first production in the second quarter of 2013.

Black Mountain reported that it intended to use the Weber pit for waste disposal from the Conjecture Silver Mine.

In addition, the company said it was planning to undertake initial geological and geophysical work over the two historic assets acquired, in particular targeting the intersection of the Conjecture and Weber shear zones to identify further drill targets as part of the exploration programme planned for the second or third quarters of 2013.

Peter Landau, Executive Chairman of Black Mountain, reported: "Having completed the acquisition of the Lakeview Mill, which would cost over $8.0m to replace and a minimum of two years to permit, Black Mountain is ideally positioned to commence high grade silver production from the historic Conjecture Silver Mine in Idaho in the second quarter of 2013.

"As the only permitted mill in the region, and with a processing capacity of 300 tonnes per day, this is a highly strategic addition to our portfolio and will meet our production requirements going forward. Also, the addition of further mining claims provides the company with exposure to exploration upside potential and a waste alternative for our Conjecture project."

Black Mountain's share price was up 2.97% to 13p at 08:49 on Tuesday.

MF