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Kellogg, Idaho. New Jersey Mining Company (OTCBB:NJMC) announces that it has
completed approximately 60% of the construction of its concentrate leach plant
at the New Jersey mill site near Kellogg. Once complete, the Company will produce
gold-silver dore’ on site by leaching its flotation concentrates instead of shipping
the concentrates to a custom gold plant or smelter. Construction is expected to
be completed in the first quarter of 2007. The leach plant has been designed
to process 10 tonnes of Golden Chest concentrate per day which provides for significant
expansion capacity over the current production rate of 1 tonne of concentrate
per day. The plant was designed to suit a Golden Chest mining operation of up
to 1,000 tonnes per day. Also by producing a gold-silver dore’, the Company has
a much more marketable product than flotation concentrates, and will receive payment
for both metals. Concentrate will be leached with cyanide in agitated tanks
and oxygen will be injected into the slurry to promote the dissolution of gold
and silver. The plant is permitted with the State of Idaho DEQ. Leaching is completed
within an enclosed building with a concrete slab designed to contain all of the
slurry in the unlikely event that every single tank ruptures. Once the leach cycle
is complete, the slurry will be fed to a filter press to separate solids from
the pregnant solution (solution laden with dissolved gold and silver). Pregnant
solution will then be fed to electro-winning cells where gold and silver will
be recovered and melted into saleable bars. As part of the leach plant construction,
the Company will use an innovative technique for tailings deposition known as
paste tailings disposal. Leached residue from the leach plant will be subjected
to the Inco SO2-Air Process to destroy any remaining cyanide and the residue will
be carefully mixed with flotation tailings in a Deep Cone Paste Thickener. The
DCP thickener will produce a toothpaste-like underflow of tailings, and clear
water will overflow from the top of the thickener to be recycled back into the
process. The tailings will be stacked in sloped embankment and reclaimed concurrent
with deposition or placed underground as mine backfill. This technique of tailings
disposal keeps the plant from discharging water to surrounding surface waters
which drastically reduces the impact of the plant to the environment and, naturally,
simplifies permitting issues. New Jersey Mining Company is involved
in exploring for and developing gold, silver and base metal ore resources in the
Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. The Company has a portfolio of
mineral properties in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District including the New Jersey
mine, the Silver Strand mine, the Golden Chest mine, and several other exploration
prospects. This release contains certain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Federal Securities Laws. Such statements are based on assumptions
that the Company believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range
of uncertainties and business risks. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ from those anticipated are discussed in the Company's periodic filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form
10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2005. Download
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