New resource estimate could revitalize historic Pickle Crow Mine

“The resource demonstrates something new for Pickle Crow: millions of tonnes of bulk underground zones to complement high grade vein resources typical of the historical operation, in addition to a new open pit component, all of which remain open for expansion,” PC Gold stated in a news release. “Combining feed from these various mining styles is expected to allow for considerably more flexibility in future mine design and a potentially much larger operation than the historical Pickle Crow mine.”

The Pickle Crow Gold Mine, located in northwestern Ontario, was among the higest-grade, and longest-lived, underground gold mines in Canada. The mine operated for 31 years from 1935 to 1966, producing some 45 tonnes of gold and 5.25 tonnes of silver, from 2.78 million tonnes of ore milled. Average grades throughout the life of the mine were 16.14 g/t gold, and 1.88 g/t silver.

An informative history of the mine can be found on PC Gold’s website, including the following historical tidbits:

• The mine established a Canadian record by paying a dividend to its shareholders a mere 11 months after beginning production.  In its first year the mine earned $415,962 (equivalent to about $6.5 million 2007 US$) after taxes and continued to earn substantial profits through World War II, labour shortages and constantly declining real gold prices (adjusted for inflation), for 28 consecutive years.
• In the post-war years, under the stewardship of Dr. Norman B. Keevil, then President of PCGM, these profits from the Pickle Crow Mine partially underwrote the growth of another great Canadian mining success story, Teck Corporation (now Teck Resources).
• In 1965, after the mine closed due to low gold prices ($35/oz) and higher operating costs, an enterprising person(s) unknown to this day, succeeded in extracting one final big payday out of the old operation in September 1966, by making off with the last three gold bars poured at Pickle Crow.

Image by PC Gold Inc.