The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Crews will prep for mining at Goose; explore new gold targets North of 60 Mining News – April 23, 2021
A roughly 4,000-meter spring drill program at Back River is testing early-stage exploration targets at the Goose project.
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. April 20 reported that the 2021 predevelopment and exploration programs are now underway at its Back River gold project in Nunavut.
"We have a busy year planned at Back River for 2021," said Sabina Gold President and CEO Bruce Mcleod. "Camp is now up and running and we are looking forward to another successful year, accomplishing the necessary activities to continue to advance the project towards a production decision."
The 2021 predevelopment work at Back River is focused on critical path activities needed to maintain the targeted production schedule as contemplated in an updated feasibility study for Goose, one of six properties that make up the larger Back River project.
This feasibility study, which was published in February, details a mine at Goose that would produce 223,000 ounces of gold annually over a 15-year mine life, including 287,000 oz of gold annually over the first five years.
This operation would start at a processing rate of 3,000 metric tons per day and be increased to 4,000 tpd by the end of year two.
The initial capital to develop this mine is estimated to be at C$610 million (US$466 million), with sustaining capital and closure costs of C$419 million (US$320 million). The all-in sustaining costs to produce an oz of gold at the Goose Mine is estimated to be US$775.
The larger Back River project hosts 33.45 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 5.88 grams per metric ton (6.32 million oz) gold; and 13.79 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 6.44 g/t (2.86 million oz) gold.
The updated feasibility study considers mining 18.7 million metric tons of ore from the Goose project averaging 6 g/t gold. At a 93.4% recovery rate, this comes to 3.35 million oz of gold over the 15-year mine life.
To further prepare Goose for the operation detailed in this study, the 2021 predevelopment work will focus on detailed engineering, procurement, and completion of select earthworks at the Bathurst Inlet port and Goose mine site, as well as commencing the development of the underground ramp for exploration of the Umwelt deposit.
Sabina says detailed engineering on the crushing and screening plant, process plant, powerhouse, truck shop, and the Goose site fuel farm should be largely completed before the end of the year.
Additionally, Sabina is working to complete a detailed design for the plant site pond; rough grade for the process plant; fuel farm pad; water management structures; and accommodation complex design. As part of this work, the company is also evaluating optimization opportunities on the sequencing of underground and open-pit mining.
The exploration ramp will involve establishing the on-surface support facilities, collaring the portal, and driving toward the Umwelt underground to provide for continued exploration of the high-grade gold zone there.
In the meantime, a roughly 4,000-meter spring drill program at Goose is focused on testing four or five early-stage exploration target areas.
These targets – GM-EM Anomaly, Hackles, Radar, Regional-Keel, and Wing – have been identified and refined through updated geological modeling and data interpretations derived from the study of historical drill core, recent field mapping, and geophysics. Sabina says these early-stage targets within the Goose mining area are predominantly found at shallow to moderate depth and success at any of these targets could have the potential to impact current mine life economics.
The spring drilling will also include four or five holes at Hook, a zone that is situated along a favorable gold structure that trends between the Goose Main and the Nuvuyak deposits.
"Exploration drills have started turning with first results expected in June and camp personnel are gearing up for significant earthworks this year. Construction is also set to begin on the underground exploration ramp at Umwelt," said McLeod.
During the summer, crews will also carry out exploration at George, a project about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Goose.
George currently hosts 7.14 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.34 g/t (1.2 million oz) gold and 5.37 million metric tons averaging 6.12 g/t (1.1 million oz) gold. The 2021 fieldwork at George will consist of mapping and rock sampling to evaluate and refine drill targets outside of the current resource areas.
Sabina says this work at George will be the first phase of a focused return to George exploration with the objective of demonstrating the potential for additional discovery and resource growth toward defining a stand-alone secondary mine development site at Back River.
"George is the Back River Gold District's second most advanced property, and we are eager to apply some of the successful exploration themes from Goose to the deposits at George," McLeod said.
Sabina is also actively working with a logistics specialist to finalize the execution strategy for delivering goods and equipment by air and sea to the Goose mine site.
Items the company is looking to procure and deliver include a roughly 278-room accommodation complex; steel and cladding for the process mill building and truck shop; multiplate steel tunnels for crushed ore reclaim; construction equipment required for foundation installation and building erection; secondary cone crusher, crusher screen and grizzly feeder; and phase one of the open-pit mining fleet.
Sabina says the delivery of these items will ensure the company is prepared to begin pre-stripping of the Echo open pit once funding is obtained and a production decision is made.
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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