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Metallurgical Testing done by USPR

Metallurgical testing of the ore will be performed by a qualified laboratory.
The testing of the ores is a multifaceted process. We believe that have both copper oxides and copper sulfides on the property. These two mineral groups must be handled differently in order to up-grade the ore. The copper oxides should prove very easy to remove the copper from the ore and produce salable copper products. Almost all copper oxides are amenable to sulfuric acid leaching. A weak solution of sulfuric acid is circulated across the ore with the net result being a solution of copper sulfate being created. The copper sulfate solution can then be evaporated and crystals of copper sulfate heptahydrate (CuSO4 * 5H2O) are recovered and sold into a number of industries. The copper content of CuSO4 * 5H2O is 25.45%. Currently, Cu2SO4 * 5H2O is currently selling for $0.90 to $1.35 USD per pound. This makes the copper contained worth $3.54 to $5.30 USD per pound. Dollar for dollar this is the cheapest and quickest end product with the greatest return. We believe that we can sell up 400 tons of this material a month without creating a stockpile on site. Our second option with Cu2SO4 * 5H2O solution is to set up an electro-winning (SXEW) plant and electro-win copper metal plates. This will require a much larger capital outlay than crystallizing copper sulfate but we believe that can sell every pound of copper produced without ever over producing for the market.

Copper Sulfides can be oxidized utilizing Thiobacillus ferroxidans bacteria. This is a slow process and requires a large stockpile of copper sulfide and copper oxide ore to produce copper sulfate solutions to be handled as above. Otherwise the sulfide ore will need to be put through a flotation mill to up grade these minerals into a copper sulfide concentrate. There are a large number of copper sulfide and copper sulfosalt ores that we may encounter on this property, such as chalcocite, chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite, enargite, tetrahedrite, and tennantite to name the more common ones. The flotation reagents will have to be fine tuned to the different sulfides that may be present and may require multiple steps to efficiently recover the copper. The copper concentrates will also carry a significant portion of the gold and silver with it. A copper concentrate or concentrates will be collected and made ready to ship to a copper smelter. The smelter will pay USPM a "credit" for the copper, gold and silver contained in the concentrate.

Should any of the tails from the copper oxide ore sulfide ores run appreciable gold and silver (which is a distinct possibility) and the gold and silver prove amenable to cyanide or any other of a number of lixavants, we intend to neutralize the tails with a strong base and counter current vat leach the tails to recover the gold and silver.