Chart: Which countries are falling behind in gold mine production
India tops the global ranking with demand nearly 50 times that of its mined supply.
Manitoba has a rich mining history dating back over 100 years. The largest mining operations currently in production are Hudbay Minerals’ 777 Mine at Flin Flon and Vale’s Nickel-Copper mining operations at Thompson.
VMS Ventures (VMS), a resource development company, is the discoverer of Reed Copper Project, which is planned to become the next copper mine to enter production in Manitoba, Canada. Reed Copper Project is scheduled to complete a bulk sample with our Joint Venture partner Hudbay Minerals later this year.
The Reed Copper deposit was discovered by our team in 2007. Most present and past-producing mines are situated in the exposed northern half of the Flin Flon – Snow Lake Greenstone belt. Little exploration has been done over the southern, covered portion of the belt, and it is here that we saw a potential opportunity.
We used new technology in the form of helicopter time domain electromagnetics (TEM) to “see through” the younger rocks and the historical work by our predecessors to explore the Flin Flon Greenstone rocks beneath.
In the past, EM anomalies detected from the air needed to be precisely located on the ground before being drilled. This required expensive and time-consuming surface geophysical surveys. At VMS Ventures we were one of the first companies in the Flin Flon belt to drill directly from airborne data, which allowed us to fly, drill and discover all in the same year.
The discovery of Reed Copper attracted worldwide attention due to its impressive copper grade which was more than twice the average for the belt. This resulted in our share price increasing by over 1000 per cent.
The discovery of Reed Copper was also positive news for the local communities. The last remaining mine in Snow Lake and a large mine near Flin Flon were declining in production in 2007, at the same time as the Reed Copper discovery was made. The two mines were significant contributors to the local and provincial economy, so Reed Copper was a welcome announcement and will help contribute to the future of Northern Manitoba.
We held our ground-breaking ceremony in August of 2012, and the next step following the completion of the underground ramp and infrastructure is for the Reed Copper Project to commence a bulk sample. This is planned to begin in the final quarter of 2013, and with production expected in Spring 2014. An estimated 1,300 tonnes of copper will be extracted daily from a feasible reserve of 2.16 million tonnes grading on average 3.83 per cent copper, 6.02 g/t silver and 0.48 g/t gold and recoveries of 94 per cent for copper, 62 per cent for silver and 58 per cent for gold.
The life of the mine is predicted to be approximately six years, however, underground exploration will continue with the potential to add new tonnes throughout the mine’s life. Typically, the deposits of this belt can grow in size as a result of exploration, averaging two to three times their original tonnage. Consequently, the size of this deposit may grow as well, thereby extending the life of mine.
