Taurus moves forward at Fenelon

Vancouver — With a new resource estimate in hand, International Taurus Resources (ITS-V) is aiming to launch a pilot mining project at the Fenelon gold property in northwest Quebec.

Discovered in 1993 by Cyprus Amex, the Fenelon deposit hosts 9 vein zones over a strike length of 650 metres. The Discovery zone comprises steeply dipping, narrow, bonanza-grade veins and replacements, spaced two to eight meters apart, occurring in a shear zone more than 150 metres wide. The gold mineralization is associated with pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite.

The proposed pilot mine is designed as an expansion of the bulk sample open pit, which produced 4,339 oz of gold from 14,000 tonnes last year. The first stage involves the removal of 11 metres of overburden followed by the open pit mining of the upper portion of the deposit down to depths of 35 metres. The small-scale operation would provide data for a feasibility study as well as generate some cash flow for the project. An underground mine is needed to develop the high-grade gold mineralization a depth.

The company has submitted its plans to the Quebec government and hopes to have a permit granted to begin work by the middle of May.

The Fenelon property is held 66.7% by International Taurus and 33.3% by Fairstar Explorations (FFR-T). Earlier this month, the partners tabled an independent resource estimate and scoping study for the project. Completed by engineering firm Pincock Allen, the study indicated that between 9,500 and 13,000 oz of gold can be produced from in a shallow initial pilot-mine pit at a grade of 15.33 grams gold per tonne.

“The proposed pilot-mining test will evaluate the best method of mining the high-grade ores in the Discovery zone, which is only one of several very prospective targets at Fenelon,” says International Taurus’ President, Robert Blakestad. “The application of selective mining techniques to minimize dilution should substantially reduce costs and provide the information needed to complete a feasibility study for the longer-term development of the deposit.”