Gowest Gold (TSXV: GWA) is pressing ahead with the reopening of its 100%-owned Bradshaw gold mine in the Timmins, Ontario, mining camp. President and CEO Dan Gagnon says the team and partners have made “excellent progress on all fronts” over the three months since the project was green-lighted.
”We are well on our way to delivering greater than 20 metres per day of ramp development and an average of 800 tonnes per day of ore in our first 12 months of operation. We are also targeting starting the toll milling of our ore at the Redstone mill in the fourth quarter of this year,” he said.
The Redstone mill belongs to Northern Sun. It and the tailings facility are being upgraded.
The first underground work is focused on the development and production of an initial bulk sample from the East zone, the development of ventilation infrastructure, and the development of the ramp to expand and access new ore zones.
The first long-hole blast at Bradshaw was initiated on July 4, between the 45 and 30 metre levels. There are approximately 10,000 tonnes of ore on the stockpile awaiting shipment to the mill anticipated to begin by the end of the year. The existing ore sorter has been recommissioned to be used with development ore beginning later this month.
Gowest hired Orbit Garant Drilling to conduct a planned 5,000-metre diamond drill program. The initial phase (800 metres) is targeting the eastern Bradshaw gold zones to extend the current stoping plan below the 80-metre level. The remainder of the drill program is aimed at expanding the mineable resource and testing additional areas on Gowest’s North Timmins gold project.
Currently, Bradshaw contains a 43‐101 indicated resource estimated at 2.1 million tonnes grading 6.19 g/t gold, containing 422,000 oz. and an inferred resource of 3.6 million tonnes grading 6.47 g/t containing 755,000 oz. of gold.
Further, based on the prefeasibility study produced by Stantec Mining and announced on June 9, 2015, Bradshaw contains mineral reserves (included in resources) in the probable category, using a 3.1 g/t gold cut‐off and utilizing a gold price of $1,200/oz., totaling 1.8 million tonnes grading 4.82 g/t for 277,000 oz. of gold.
