First sealift delivers goods to Back River

Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. Sept. 4 announced that it has received the first sealift to its new Back River marine laydown area, a critical infrastructure component to facilitate transportation of equipment and supplies to the Back River gold mine project in Nunavut.

This ability to transport goods to Back River via barge to the laydown area and then a roughly 150-kilometer- (93 miles) long ice road to the mine site provides more efficiency in supporting exploration and development activities than the current method of air transport alone.

The three barges in the first sealift were successfully received and unloaded at the laydown area in mid-August. These barges contained large capacity fuel tanks, which will provide 15 million liters (4 million gallons) storage at each the laydown area and Goose mine site, along with consumables and additional construction and ancillary equipment.

Two other sealifts with fuel, construction equipment, winter road equipment and other supplies will be received at the laydown area later this year and will be transported to the Goose mine site via ice road this winter.

"We have significantly de-risked the Back River Project with this pre-development work at the MLA (marine laydown area) and demonstrating a successful first sea lift," said Sabina Gold President and CEO Bruce McLeod.

To begin work on the laydown area, Sabina used transported equipment and supplies from its Goose camp, where the mine at Back River is to be developed, to the MLA with a Cat train that followed the route of a proposed winter ice road. Sabina said this winter shipment to the laydown area validated the ice road route and provided information for improved future alignment.

Upon arrival at the MLA, a temporary camp was established and a 5,000-foot ice airstrip on Bathurst Inlet was constructed to facilitate a heavy lift air campaign consisting of over 100 freight flights to bring construction equipment, camp, supplies and fuel to the MLA. Immediately following the airlift, a quarry was established, and civil works proceeded from April to August.

This initial development work included the construction of a permanent 45-person camp, quarry, temporary fuel storage depot, permanent laydown storage pads, barge landings, connecting roads, and permanent fuel tank pads: effectively completing all major MLA civil works contemplated in the feasibility study for the Goose gold mine at Back River.

In addition, the size of the laydown and storage pads were increased by roughly 30 percent and a 3,000-foot gravel airstrip was constructed, which provides the ability to access the laydown area during the months when the ice road will be unavailable.

The cost to complete this expanded work was roughly C$24 million, compared to approximately C$22.6 million estimated in the feasibility study, excluding contingency. In addition to the larger area and gravel airstrip, the purchase of construction equipment that was planned to be rented from contractors in the feasibility study contributed to the extra costs.

"Under Sabina's management, we were able to improve upon the feasibility execution and development plan and build additional infrastructure which will greatly improve logistics at Back River," said McLeod. "The infrastructure constructed at the MLA was completed in line with the estimated initial capex in the 2015 feasibility study for the project and we are pleased to have this work under our belts. In addition, we continue with our two-pronged approach at Back River by continuing exploration and making a new discovery at Goose and continuing to de-risk the project with prudent capital allocation."

The feasibility study for Back River envisions a 3,000 metric-ton-per-day mine producing about 244,000 ounces a year for the first eight years and averaging some 200,000 oz over an 11-year mine life.

Sabina submitted an environmental impact statement for this project late in 2015 and last December the Nunavut Impact Review Board issued the final project certificate for Back River, allowing the company to advance the gold mine project through the final licensing and permitting stage.

Issuance of the water license for this gold mine project is anticipated by the end of this year.

–SHANE LASLEY