It’s been a while coming, but it finally appears that this will be the year St Andrew Goldfields will put its Stock Twp. property into production. Reconnaissance surface drilling first identified the deposit all the way back in 1973, and a shaft was actually collared the following year. However, other than a deepening of the shaft earlier in this decade, little was done on the property until ownership reverted to St Andrew in 1983. Since then, the shaft has been further deepened, lateral work on several levels has been completed, and a new higher-grade zone has been discovered.
The production decision was finally announced on June 30, 1987, though St Andrew is hedging, saying start-up will take place either late this year or early next year.
The bulk of the pre-production work underground was well under way late last fall. The ventilation system was all but completed, ore and waste passes on all levels were in place, and raising from the fourth through to the first levels was progressing. The remaining pre-production work has been scheduled to coincide with the start-up date.
In total, five zones of ore-grade material have been outlined. Four such zones have been defined to the west of the shaft. But the prime focus of attention has been the N-2 Zone, located about 200 to 250 ft north of the others.
N-2 was discovered rather late in the game (1986) and it has the highest grade, averaging 800,000 tons of 0.23 oz of gold per ton. Three additional zones have been defined, though still lightly explored. These are essentially “in the bank,” and could be drawn from should future expansion occur. St Andrew Notebook Location: ……. 35 miles east of Timmins, Ont. Major Owners: ……. St Andrew Goldfields and Esso Minerals Commodity: ……. gold Discovery date: ……. 1973 Production decision: ……. June 30, 1987 Start-up: ……. late 1988 or early 1989 Capital costs: ……. $15 million Operating costs: ……. Between $275 and $325 per oz Reserves: ……. 1.5 million tons grading 0.183 oz gold per ton, including
about 800,000 tons of 0.23 oz per ton Means of access: ……. an 884-ft, 3-com partment shaft Mining method: ……. shrinkage stoping, cut-and-fill Mining equipment: ……. trackless Production rate: ……. 500 tons per day (initially), 1,000 tons per day
(potential) Milling plans: ……. on-site, standard mill, with carbon-in-pulp Major contractors: ……. geological ore reserves: G. A. Hogg & Associates; metallurgy: Richard F. Down, P. Eng.; mill, plant design and costing: Leslie Engineering; mining method and layouts: J.S. Redpath; environ mental: Environmental Applications Group Status: ……. pre-production
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