The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Mining to begin in spring; commercial production in Q1 2023 North of 60 Mining News - Dec. 10, 2021
Ascot Resources workers in the underground workings from historical mining at the Premier gold-silver project in BC.
In anticipation of commissioning slated to begin next year, Ascot is installing new mills at the Premier gold mine project.
Considered a major milestone along the path to new mining jobs and economic opportunities for the Nisga'a Nation and others that live in and around the town of Stewart, British Columbia, Ascot Resources Ltd. has been issued the permit needed to begin a new era of mining at its Premier gold project.
"This project will be a welcome source of employment for hundreds of people who live in the Northwest," said BC Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Bruce Ralston. "Ascot Resources Ltd. is working with Nisga'a Nation to bring good-paying jobs to the community and those who live around Stewart, B.C."
Mining at Premier dates back more than a century, and the gold-silver mine was last operated in the 1990s. However, much of the major infrastructure – mill, crushing and grinding circuits, tailings storage area, and hydroelectric grid power access – remains from the previous mining.
The property also has permits from previous mining that were confirmed by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency but needed to be amended to reflect Ascot's new Premier mine plan.
Working closely with the Nisga'a Nation, Ascot put together a comprehensive Joint Mines Act-Environmental Management Act application to amend these already established permits for Premier.
Thanks to this collaboration, Ascot has now received the provincial permit, and the federal permit is expected any day.
"We are very pleased to see that the Mines Act Permit for the construction and operation of the Premier Gold Project has been issued," said Nisga'a Lisims Government President Eva Clayton. "The Nisga'a Nation have worked in extensive collaboration with Ascot throughout the permitting process, including through the Mine Review Committee process leading up to the granting of the permit."
A feasibility study completed in 2020 envisions four mines in the Stewart area – Big Missouri, Silver Coin, Premier, and Red Mountain – delivering ore to the existing mill at Premier. With the mill operating at 2,500 metric tons per day, this operation is expected to produce roughly 1.1 million ounces of gold and 3 million oz of silver over an initial eight-year mine life.
In preparation for this new generation of mining at Premier, Ascot has already begun ordering the long lead-time equipment it will need for the mine. This includes orders put in last October for the SAG and ball mills to upgrade and update the concentrator facility.
In addition, crews have made significant improvements to various roads at Premier, including grading and widening the five-mile (eight kilometers) haul road that connects the Big Missouri gold-silver deposit to the mill building.
With the amended Mines Act Permit in hand, Ascot can now scale up its development activities in preparation to restart what will be one of the lowest carbon-intensive gold mines in BC due to its connection to hydroelectric grid power.
During the roughly one-year construction phase, Ascot expects the project to employ a peak of around 140 people, which will double to roughly 280 direct employees during operation. This does not include the subcontractors, suppliers, and ancillary services that will be needed for the Premier Mine.
Ascot hopes that many of these positions will be filled by Nisga'a Nation and other local community members.
"We are grateful that our community-centered approach to responsible mine development and environmental stewardship was a vision shared by all parties involved in the permitting process," said Ascot Resources President and CEO Derek White. "We would like to thank our shareholders, Nisga'a Nation and the local towns of Stewart, B.C. and Hyder, Alaska for their support as we progressed through the permitting process and are looking forward to the next chapter as we advance Canada's next gold mine towards production."
Ascot had originally intended to begin development plans in earnest immediately following the receipt of the permit. The company, however, has decided to postpone most of its outdoor activities until spring due to some of the ordered components being shipped from China being lost at sea and unusually large snowfall accumulations during the recent storm events in western BC.
Under the revised schedule, Ascot expects to begin underground development at the Big Missouri deposit in April and reach ore there by next fall. This schedule would put Ascot on pace to start commissioning the upgraded Premier mill in October and be scaled up to commercial production by the first quarter of 2023.
The Nisga'a Nation is pleased to see the progress being made to develop a safe, prosperous, and environmentally responsible mining operation at Premier.
"We look forward to our continued collaboration with Ascot in the full-scale construction and operation phases of the project," said Clayton.
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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