Engineering & Mining Journal

MAY 2017

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/822333

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 27 of 59

REGIONAL NEWS - EXPLORATION ROUNDUP 26 E&MJ; • MAY 2017 www.e-mj.com Cartier Resources Drilling 50,000-m Across Four Gold Projects in Quebec Cartier Resources has announced plans for 50,000-m in exploration drilling to be con- ducted at its Chimo Mine, Benoist, Wilson, and Fenton gold projects in Quebec. The drilling is intended to explore the depth and lateral extensions of known high-grade gold mineralization and expand the dimensions of known deposits on the four properties. At the formerly producing Chimo mine, two rigs will complete 25,000 m of drilling. One rig will focus on depth and lateral exten- sions of known mineralization and expand the dimensions of gold zones that have been previously outlined. A second rig will focus exclusively on drilling the depth extension along plunge of the main Chimo gold zone, where the bulk of the ounces were mined. Cartier plans to begin the Chimo drilling in June and to complete it by December. At the Benoist project, a 10,000-m drill program will focus on "OreVision" anomalies identified in 2016. More than 16 anomalies have been selected as drill targets. The drilling will be a winter pro- gram and will be conducted in early 2018. At the Wilson project, one drill rig is currently drilling 18 holes for a total of 7,000 m to test the depth extensions of four gold zones that are hosted within the Toussaint and Midrim gold structures. The Midrim structure is known over a dis- tance of 1.5 km along strike from historic drilling. This program is scheduled for completion in late May 2017. At the Fenton project, the drill pro- gram will be operated by Cartier's partner, SOQUEM. The budget provides for com- pletion of a new "OreVision" or "IPower" survey to refine targets known from histor- ical work. Drilling with one rig for a total of 8,000 m will test the depth and lateral extensions of the Fenton deposit. The pro- gram is planned to occur in two phases straddling late 2017 and early 2018. (www.ressourcescartier.com) Exploration Briefs Golden Star Resources' 2017 exploration strategy in southwest Ghana is focusing on increasing the lives of its Prestea and Wassa mining operations. Phase one of the program includes 48,000 m of drill- ing, with the option of expanding the pro- gram if the results are positive. Phase one planning calls for 21,480 m of drilling at the Prestea Underground pro- ject. If additional mineral resources can be delineated, this project offers Golden Star the strongest potential for increasing near- term production due to an under-utilized shaft and processing plant. If additional ore is delineated, the company anticipates that Prestea Underground's production rate could be increased substantially with- out the need to incur significant capital expenditures for infrastructure upgrades. Golden Star's Prestea open pits and Mampon deposit are scheduled to be mined during the first three quarters of 2017. The company has previously increased mine life of the open pits through drilling, and an objective of the 2017 program is to de- fine additional mineral resources to extend production into the fourth quarter of 2017 and potentially beyond. Phase one drilling is planned at 9,100 m. Golden Star expects to blend ore from the Prestea open pits and Mampon with high-grade ore from Prestea Underground once the latter comes into production. At Golden Star's Wassa Underground mine, the first objective of the 2017 drill- ing program is to expand the indicated mineral resources to allow an increase in the near-term supply of high-grade under- ground ore to the Wassa processing plant. The second objective is to confirm that gold mineralization is continuous along strike, adding additional inferred mineral resources, which have the potential to be mined in the longer term. Phase one drill- ing at Wassa is planned at 17,000 m. Golden Star's Ghana mines produced 194,054 oz of gold during 2016, includ- ing 53,403 oz during the fourth quarter. (www.gsr.com) Gold Road Resources has budgeted $A30 million for 2017 exploration on the North Yamarna, Gruyere, and South Yamarna projects located about 200 km east of La- verton, Western Australia. North Yamarna is owned 100% by Gold Road; Gruyere is a 50:50 joint venture between Gold Road and Gold Fields Ltd; and South Yamar- na is a 50:50 joint venture between Gold Road and Sumitomo. DDH1 Drilling has been awarded a contract for approximately 35,000 m of diamond drilling, including 14,000 m of deep diamond drilling at Gruyere. Ranger Drilling Services has been awarded a percussion drilling contract for all reverse circulation (RC) and aircore drilling services. The Ranger contact cov- ers aspects of the 2017 program focused on regional greenfields drilling and drilling of existing and identified resources. The contract calls for approximately 77,000 m of RC and 160,000 m of aircore drilling. Gruyere is the most advanced of the three projects, with 288 rooms of an ac- commodation village ready for occupancy as of late March. The planned 648-room village was scheduled for completion to- wards the end of May. The Gruyere project feasibility study, completed in October 2016, considers production of 270,000 oz/y of gold over a 13-year mine life. (www.goldroad.com.au) Richmont Mines reports that recent ex- ploration drilling has identified new high- grade mineralization approximately 800 m east of the main deposit at its Island Gold mine 83 km northeast of Wawa, Ontario. The 2017 drilling program continues to build on positive results achieved in 2016 and is focused on three key priorities: to expand near-mine resources outside the Expansion Case PEA area, both laterally and at depth; to further expand the re- serve base, primarily within the Expansion Case PEA area; and continuing to test high-priority regional gold targets across the prospective Island Gold property. The 2016 delineation drilling program contributed to a 34% increase in reserves at an 11% higher grade, while delivering more than 450,000 oz of new inferred re- sources. As of December 31, 2016, the Island Gold mine had a reserve base of 752,200 oz of gold at a grade of 9.17 g/mt, while inferred resources stood at 995,700 oz at a grade of 10.18 g/mt. (www.richmont-mines.com)

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Engineering & Mining Journal - MAY 2017