American Rare Earths secures research institute to progress Halleck Creek project in Wyoming
The Halleck Creek project was named last year as one of the world’s top 10 rare earth projects.
Following the resumption of mine and mill operations earlier this year, Endomines AB has now recommenced ore mining at the Friday mine in Idaho, with gold production expected at the end of August. The Orogrande processing facility has completed dry testing and is set to finalize wet testing for production.
In Q2 2021, the Sweden gold miner had been focusing on the restart of production at the Friday mine with the purchase of a new mining fleet. The buy included the acquisition of a new 4-yard and 1 1/2-yard underground loaders, a jumbo and long hole drill rigs, and a third haul tuck that have now been added to the fleet.
The mine’s underground services have also been upgraded to allow deeper ore development and multiple work areas. The upgrade includes better ventilation, dewatering, power and air distribution to ensure sufficient capacity to supply current and future mill needs, the company said.
Manning levels have also increased to over 50 employees to allow full production to be reached in Q3-Q4 2021.
According to Endomines, the next three-month production has already been blasted in the stopes, and the ore is currently being hauled up to surface from the mine and further to the Orogrande mill stockpile. The mill stockpile now holds over 1,500 tonnes in anticipation for wet commissioning to start.
The Friday mine is expected to amount to around 9,000 oz gold per year for more than seven years of production
Development of the southern stopes at the S4500 level will provide access to higher-grade ore once the Orogrande processing facility has been fully commissioned.
In July 2021, the company initiated a 2,340m diamond core drill program, which it believes will provide greater confidence in the upper stopes of the mine that will provide ore for the mill in 2022 and 2023.
The Friday mine is expected to amount to around 9,000 oz gold per year for more than seven years of production.
Over next few years, Endomines said it will focus on the development of the US Grant and Kearsarge gold mining assets in Montana, with planning and due diligence work at these properties are underway. Preparation of an updated mineral resource estimate will be carried out in Q3 2021.
Shares of Endomines closed 7.8% higher on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange Tuesday, giving the company a market capitalization of 762.8 million Swedish krona ($87m).
