Orofino underground work may lead to gold production

Orofino Resources says it is looking at the possibility that its wholly- owned Scadding gold property about 20 miles northeast of Sudbury, Ont., could go into production by the end of this year.

The company will be carrying out a feasibility study on completion of an underground exploration program just now under way on the property, and estimates about 28,800 oz gold could be produced from the property’s Intermediate zone over the next 2-3 years.

“We’re optimistic about the possibilities,” Thomas Crandell, vice-president mining, tells The Northern Miner.

The current program involves driving of 2,000 ft of decline ramp to a vertical depth of 330 ft, and will test the Intermediate zone where previous surface drilling has indicated a mineable ore reserve of 136,491 short tons, at an average cut grade of 0.21 oz gold per ton.

The program will take from four to five months to complete, at a cost of approximately $1.5 million.

According to Mr Crandell, the ramp will intersect the mineralized zone on five levels. Some 5,500 ft of underground drilling and 1,250 ft of development are scheduled, he adds.

Last year, Orofino began commercial gold production, using the mill located on the Scadding property, to process ore from the Orostar joint venture project (50-50 Orofino and Groundstar Resources), some six miles to the east.

“We’ve been producing over 900 oz of gold every month since about last September, when the mill was brought up to speed,” Mr Crandell said.

The new exploration program on the Scadding property is designed to ensure continuous mill feed and gold production for the next three to four years, Orofino says.

The mill on the property has a 200-ton-per-day design capacity, and can produce both gravity and flotation concentrates.

Mr Crandell says milling of the Orostar ore will be completed in August this year. To the end of last year, a total of 5,139 oz gold had been produced at Orostar, and a further 6,000 oz is expected from it this year, half of which will accrue to Orofino’s account.

The mill, which was originally built for Delnite Mines back in 1940, passed through a number of hands in the intervening years before being acquired by Orofino about two years ago.

The company completely rehabilitated the facility at a cost of less than $800,000, the Orofino executive said.

Orofino trades on the Toronto and Vancouver stock exchanges, currently in the 50 cents -a-share range.