Tombstone Exploration Corporation Announces Construction Update & Progress as of August 13, 2020 on the Bonanza Mine Heap Leach Project

PHOENIX, Aug. 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tombstone Exploration Corporation (OTCQB: TMBXF), a fully reporting U.S. based mining company, announced today in combination with Goldrock Resources Inc. and the Bonanza Mining Company that the construction phase is moving smoothly and on track for the complete build out of the heap leach pad and pond at the Bonanza Harquahala Gold Mine in La Paz County, Arizona.

The earthworks for the leach pad and pond have been completed approximately three weeks early and is now ready for liner installation. To date, the principal production area has been cleared, grubbed and fine graded to plan and is now ready for the liner. The pregnant solution pond is complete and ready for liner installation, the pond berms have been compacted to engineering specifications in preparation for installation of the leach pad liner and processing facility installation.

5D Mining and Construction, our General Contractor, is currently constructing access roads within the private property boundary, completing the crusher pad and associated access roads, and also finishing the carbon column pad location and the cyanide tank location.

The carbon column tanks are near completion and will be shipped to site in the next two weeks. Pumps and piping have been ordered with most equipment sitting on site. All equipment will be installed upon arrival of associated equipment such as the carbon columns. Electrical boxes and materials are being built and will be available by the end of the month.

Liner installation will not start until the end of August due to the lack of installation crews. The liner is now scheduled for a planned installation by the end of September. Start-up is still scheduled for the last week of September. 

Todd Fayram, Construction Manager, stated, “The 5D crew has completed its task in an extremely professional manner and has wasted little time in the initial construction of the pad. We have been very pleased with the crew and their work ethic.”

Alan Brown, Tombstone Exploration CEO and President, stated, “I am very happy with the initial earthworks. The quickness of the installation has allowed us extra time to ensure the proper installation of the electrical and piping. The pictures attached clearly outline the progress of construction.”

Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to extract precious metals and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and re-separate them after their division from other earth materials. Similar to in situ mining, heap leach mining differs in that it places ore on a liner, then adds the chemicals via drip systems to the ore, whereas in situ mining lacks these liners and pulls pregnant solution up to obtain the minerals. Heap leaching is widely used in modern large-scale mining operations as it produces the desired concentrates at a lower cost compared to conventional processing methods such as flotation, agitation, and vat leaching.