Timmins could see the start of another gold mine by 2018 according to the CEO of mine developer Gowest Limited (TSXV:GWA).
Greg Romain gave an update on the company’s Bradshaw mine site, located on a parcel of land off Highway 655 near Timmins, at the recent Canadian Mining Expo.
“Gowest is a Canadian company. Everybody knows about us. We’re trying to develop the next new mine in Timmins,” he told the audience at the two-day event in Timmins.
“Our objectives are very simple. Bulk sample. From bulk sample we’re going to move into pre-production and then right into production.”
The Bradshaw deposit is located on the Frankfield property, part of Gowest’s North Timmins Gold Project (NTGP). Gowest is exploring additional gold targets on its 100+-square-kilometre NTGP land package and continues to evaluate the area, which is part of the prolific Timmins, Ontario gold camp.
Interest in the property goes back to the 1960s when magnetic aerial surveys were carried out because of the huge Kidd mine discovery. The Kidd mine is the world’s deepest base-metal mine below sea level, mining at 9,600 feet with shaft bottom at 9,889 feet. The mine and concentrator are currently operated by Glencore (LON:GLEN).
Currently, Bradshaw has a National Instrument 43-101 indicated resource estimated at 2.1 million tonnes grading 6.19 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) containing 422,000 ounces (oz) Au and an inferred resource of 3.6 million tonnes grading 6.47 g/t Au containing 755,000 oz Au. Further, based on the pre-feasibility study (PFS) produced by Stantec Mining on June 9, 2015, Bradshaw contains mineral reserves in the probable category, using a 3 g/t Au cut-off and utilizing a gold price of US$1,200/oz, totalling 1.8 million tonnes grading 4.82 g/t Au for 277,000 oz Au.
On May 25 Gowest began driving underground, completing first blast and is now developing the main ramp towards the deposit. Ongoing definition drilling continues to identify promising zones above areas previously defined in the PFS, according to Gowest.
Fresh from a visit underground, Romain told the conference crews are about 60 metres into the face and will hit the mineralized zone at about 300 metres, in a couple of months. He says Gowest is targeting commercial production by 2018.
“Our objectives are very simple,” said Romain, quoted in The Sudbury Star. “Bulk sample. From bulk sample we’re going to move into pre-production and then right into production.”
Gowest plans to acquire half-ownership in the Redstone mill south of Timmins, and will also use an ore sorting machine to reject waste rock before it goes to the mill.
“What that’s going to do is when we crush the ore, we will increase the grade from about five grams up to about 10 to 12 grams before it goes to the mill. It rejects about 60% of the waste rock,” The Star reported.
Gowest stock, which trades at 20 cents a share, is up 29% year to date. Its market value is currently $59.4 million on the Venture exchange.
