A BREAKNECK PACE NICKEL PLATE

The inappropriately-named Nickel Plate Mountain is a goldbug’s dream. Placer gold first drew miners to the area near Hedley, B.C., in the 1860s. Later, lode-type gold brought the miners back to the area. After a half-century of production, it was thought that finally Nickel Plate had relinquished its last ounce. But then along came Mascot Gold Mines, hoping to be third-time lucky no doubt, and flow-through financing. An extensive drill program and plenty of persistence paid off. Today, the Nickel Plate is again producing gold — lots of it.

Mascot forecasts that the mountain will produce about 120,000 oz a year based on a reserve of 9.9 million tons grading 0.133 oz gold per ton.

For now, Nickel Plate Mountain is strictly an open-pit venture, though more than two million tons of potentially mineable material have been indicated below the planned open pits. The current ore zones extend more than 5,000 ft in a north-south arc across the easterly slope of the mountain.

Flow-through financing has been an integral part of Nickel Plate’s rebirth. The availability of exploration funds through flow-through shares allowed Mascot to undertake a large program in 1984. This drill program outlined an initial 3 million tons of open-pit reserves. Up until then, the property had been considered only for its underground potential. Geologically, the Nickel Plate is a skarn deposit with igneous intrusives. The orebodies generally contain finely disseminated gold and large quantities of arsenopyrite and pyrrhotite. The ore is blocky and best suited to autogenous or pebble mill grinding. In the extraction process, cyanidation techniques yield optimum gold recoveries. Nickel Plate Notebook Location: ……. near Hedley, B.C. Major owner: ……. Mascot Gold Mines Commodity: ……. gold Discovery date: ……. original underground discovery in 1890s, most

recently in 1984 Production decision: ……. early 1986 Start-up: ……. April 22, 1987 Capital costs: ……. $61 million Operating costs: ……. $170(US) per oz (estimate) Reserves: ……. 9.9 million tons grading 0.133 oz gold per ton Means of access: ……. open pit Extent of vertical workings: ……. 3,000 ft and more Mining method: ……. open pit Mining equipment: ……. Canadian Ingersoll Rand Drillmaster, Wabco 65-ton trucks, P & H 1600E shovels Production rate: ……. 2,700 tons per day Milling plans: ……. on-site Major contractors: ……. none currently Status: ……. production