Grades improve at Bachelor Lake

Operating improvements at Bachelor Lake Gold Mines facility near Demaraisville, Que., which first surfaced in the third quarter of 1986, have continued into the fourth quarter.

For the 3-month period ended Dec 31, the company chalked up its first quarterly profit in many years — $609,908. Prior to that, the company was running a 9-month loss of $1.1 million or 16 cents per share.

The turnaround is primarily attributed to grade, which has improved from 0.112 oz in the fourth quarter of 1985, to 0.189 oz gold per ton, in the fourth quarter of 1986. During the period, the 500-ton-per-day mill processed 30,272 tons to produce 5,363 oz of gold; up almost 30% from the 4,180 oz produced during the corresponding period in 1985.

Cash mine operating profit totalled $1.5 million compared to an operating loss of $255,000 in the same period in 1985.