The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Privately held company
President: Nori Ushirone
Pogo General Manager: Todd Roth
Pogo Chief Geologist: Paul Jensen
Sumitomo Metal Mining Pogo LLC, an 85/15 partnership between Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd. and Sumitomo Corp. is boosting the gold reserves at Pogo while seeking new deposits on the property surrounding the high-grade gold mine in Interior Alaska. The Tokyo-based miner planned about 40,800 meters of surface and underground drilling at Pogo in 2010. The 21,150-meter surface program split between helicopter-supported and road-based drill rigs investigated both expansion areas near the mine and the property-wide potential at Pogo. About 7,460 meters of the underground program was exploration drilling and the remaining 12,200 meters was dedicated to reserve/resource definition.
The 21,500-meter drill program in 2009 added some 320,000 ounces of new gold to the reserves at Pogo, about 20 percent less than the 390,000 ounces recovered during the year.
The 2009 program also added around 804,000 ounces of gold into the resource category.
In addition to the drill program, Sumitomo conducted airborne geophysics as well as extensive mapping and sampling throughout the Pogo land package.
Having explored the area near Pogo since about 1994, Sumitomo eventually partnered with Teck Resources Ltd., a miner with experience in both permitting and operating mines in Alaska.
Vancouver, B.C.-based Teck operated Pogo during the first three years after startup.
In 2009 the Sumitomo bought out Teck's 40 percent interest in the underground mining operation, making Pogo the first overseas mine operated by the Japanese firm.
Sumitomo Metal Mining has been a comprehensive nonferrous manufacturer since the 16th century.
The 400-year-old business said the acquisition of the remaining interest in Pogo is a significant step toward it becoming a major force in the nonferrous metals industry worldwide.
P.O. Box 145 Delta Junction, Alaska USA 99737
Tel (Mine): 907-895-2500 Tel (Corporate): 81-3-3436-7705
Reader Comments(0)