The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Exploration ramp, ice road allows winter work at gold project North of 60 Mining News – November 5, 2021
Underground development at the Umwelt deposit will allow for exploration at Back River during the cold Nunavut winters.
The shop and other facilities at the Umwelt exploration ramp where crews are currently completing a portal canopy to protect against snow buildup in the box cut.
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. Nov. 2 reported that underground development at the Umwelt gold deposit will allow for the first-ever year-round operations at its Back River gold project in Nunavut, Canada.
According to a calculation completed earlier this year, Back River 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.
An updated feasibility study based on this resource details plans for an initial 3,000-metric-ton-per-day mill ramping up to 4,000 metric tons per day by the end of the second year. This operation is forecast to produce an average of roughly 287,000 ounces of gold per year over the first five years.
The feasibility study contemplates mining a total of 18.7 million metric tons of ore from the Goose Mine at Back River averaging 6 g/t gold. At a recovery rate of 93.4%, this operation is expected to produce a total of 3.34 million oz of gold over the 15-year mine life, or approximately 223,000 oz annually.
Sabina has received all requisite local, territorial, and federal permits and authorizations for the mining operation outlined for the previous 2015 feasibility. While collaboration with these regulatory parties is ongoing, Sabina does not anticipate the need for material authorization amendments related to an updated feasibility study for the Goose Mine.
Over the course of 2021, Sabina has made significant progress on de-risking the mine detailed in the updated feasibility study.
This includes the establishment of a decline that will provide a platform for underground exploration at Umwelt, which hosts much of the gold resources at Goose. Work on this exploration ramp began in May and Sabina expects to have more than 700 meters of underground development completed by the end of the year.
Underground heat and a portal canopy to protect against snow buildup in the box cut are expected to be completed in November.
This winterized underground development coupled with a roughly 170-kilometer- (105 miles) long ice road from the Bathurst Inlet port is supporting year-round predevelopment activities at the Goose Mine site.
"For the first time at Back River, site operations will continue year-round as we continue to drive the Umwelt exploration ramp and prepare for winter ice road construction," said Sabina Gold President and CEO Bruce McLeod.
During the summer shipping season, three vessels from the west and two from the east delivered fuel, equipment, and supplies to the Bathurst Inlet port, including all the mining and construction equipment needed next year.
Significant work completed at the port site includes:
• Approximately 25,000 square meters (six acres) of additional laydown created.
• 10-million-liter (2.6 million gallons) fuel containment completed.
• Successful offloading of fuel from the barge to tank.
• Construction of new maintenance shop.
• Construction of new hard-wall camp for the port scheduled for completion by end of November.
"All equipment required for pre-development activities in 2022 has been procured and received and critical civil works have sufficiently advanced to enable the pouring of concrete foundations in the 2022 season," said McLeod.
Sabina is also making headway on the engineering and project design front, including a fixed price proposal of C$130 million for the materials and consumables for the processing plant. The crushing circuit, grinding circuit, recovery circuit, tails thickener, gold room, control room, truck shop, fire water systems, and other components included in this proposal account for roughly 85% of the direct works on site.
"The company is also advancing project financing initiatives and believes it will be in a position to make more fulsome disclosure in the coming weeks," the Sabina Gold CEO added.
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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