Avalon gets $2.5 million from Sibelco to advance non-JV projects
The companies are partners on the Separation Rapids lithium project in Kenora, Ontario, which is currently in the drilling stage.
Vanderhoof, a small community in northern British Columbia, has been told to expect a gold mine on its doorstep within 6 years.
New Gold President and CEO Bob Gallagher paid a visit to Vanderhoof town council on July 20, telling local politicians the Blackwater gold mine should be up and running by 2017. The mine is about 100 kilometres south of Vanderhoof.
“This project is at the forefront of our stove … and we’re really excited about it,” said Gallagher, in a report by local community newspaper Omineca Express.
New Gold acquired Blackwater as part of a $513-million acquisition of Richfield Ventures earlier this year.
The deposit contains 1.83 million ounces of gold in the indicated category and 2.34 ounces inferred, with a cutoff grade of 0.4 g/t. The last resource estimate was done in March 2011 and was based on 77 holes drilled in between 2009 and 2010.
Gallagher said in Vanderhoof that five drills are currently on site, with the expectation to double that to 10 once a camp is built. The company has budgeted $20 million for between 40,000 and 50,000 metres of drilling in the second half of this year. That is over double previous owner Richfield’s exploration program, which had targetted just 30,000 metres for the full year.
New Gold has three producing assets and three projects in development. The Mesquite Mine in the United States, the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico and Peak Gold Mines in Australia are expected to produce between 380,000 and 400,000 ounces of gold in 2011. The New Afton project in central B.C. is currently in construction and is scheduled to open in 2012. New Gold also owns 30% of Goldcorp’s El Morro project in Chile and. For more information on the company, please visit www.newgold.com.
