The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Plans to update Back River mine feasibility study with results North of 60 Mining News – October 16, 2020
The aurora lights up the sky as crews test a zone of high-grade gold mineralization beneath the Umwelt deposit on Sabina's Back River gold project in Nunavut.
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. Oct. 13 reported additional high-grade gold intercepts from drilling of the upper portions of the corridor at the Umwelt Underground resource at its Back River gold project in Nunavut.
A feasibility study completed in 2015 details plans for a 3,000-metric-tons-per-day mine at Goose, one of the properties that comprise the larger Back River project. This proposed mine is forecast to produce roughly 2.3 million ounces of gold over an 11.8-year mine life.
Internal studies conducted by Sabina earlier this year suggest that mining higher-grade underground material at the beginning of the mine life could have a significant positive impact on project economics by increasing gold production in the early years. This year's drilling was designed to delineate and detail the nature of the high-grade structure at Umwelt, which has never been discretely targeted.
Seven of the holes this year targeted V2, a zone directly under the proposed Umwelt open-pit at a depth that ranges from 135 to 285 meters below surface. Sabina said all the holes targeting this zone returned exceptional widths of gold mineralization.
Highlights from V2 holes drilled earlier this year include:
• 19.4 meters averaging 15.15 grams per metric ton gold in hole 20GSE571.
• 24.75 meters averaging 7.5 g/t gold in 20GSE573.
• 32.2 meters averaging 19.89 g/t gold in 20GSE575C.
The latest batch of results includes three high-grade V2 intercepts.
• 20.55 meters averaging 16.59 g/t gold in 20GSE581.
• 22.75 meters averaging 14.78 g/t gold in 20GSE582.
• 24.8 meters averaging 14.78 g/t gold in 20GSE584.
"The consistent widths and high grades returned to date from our V2 zone highlight and confirm upside to the Umwelt underground resource," said Sabina Gold & Silver President and CEO Bruce McLeod. "This could enable an optimization to our mine sequencing, enhancing the economics of an already robust project as well as provide the opportunity to increase the production profile in the early years of the mine life."
Sabina said it plans to incorporate the results from this drilling into an updated Back River feasibility study slated for completion early next year.
The company is also preparing to develop an underground exploration ramp that can facilitate further drilling as well as bulk sampling of the high-grade corridor at Umwelt.
The initial surface work and mobilization of equipment required to support the exploration ramp is underway, with collaring of the decline expected in early 2021. Sabina said 1,500 meters of underground development would provide access to V2.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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