Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Marathon Gold has provided an update on the progress of pre-feasibility and resource estimation work for its Valentine project.
On the pre-feasibility front, trade-off studies are now complete with current plans for a single stream of ore feeding a conventional mill. To optimize project economics, Marathon is evaluating the option of starting production with a smaller mill to process higher grade, near surface ore, with a mill expansion following.
Pre-feasibility is on schedule for release in the second quarter of next year
The prior scenario, from a preliminary economic assessment released in October 2018, incorporated a 3 million tonne per year mill processing higher grade ore with lower grade material destined for a 3 mtpa heap leach pad.
The pre-feasibility is on schedule for release in the second quarter of next year.
The resource estimate will incorporate sub-domaining by grade for open pit resources at Marathon and Leprechaun to maximize confidence in the material prioritized in the updated mine plan.
Work on the resource estimate is ongoing: it is expected to be released early in the new year.
Ausenco is the lead consultant for the pre-feasibility with input from Moose Mountain, Golder, Stantec and Terrane Geoscience.
John T. Boyd Company and RPA are preparing the updated resource estimate.
Current open pit resources for Valentine stand at 44.3 million tonnes in the measured and indicated categories grading 1.79 g/t gold for a total of 2.6 million oz. with additional inferred resources of 24.4 million tonnes at 1.57 g/t gold for a total of 1.2 million oz.
Within this inventory, the Marathon and Leprechaun deposits contain 42.6 million measured and indicated tonnes and 2.5 million associated oz. with a further 21.3 million tonnes and 1.1 million oz. inferred.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
