Audrey’s open pit mine in production next week

The Mobrun polymetallic mine in northwestern Quebec will start production July 1, the president of Audrey Resources, Guy Hebert, reports.

Located 32 km north of Rouyn- Noranda, the mine will produce gold, silver, copper and zinc. Audrey is the operator and has a 70% interest in the property; the other 30% is held by Minnova Inc. Mr Hebert says current reserves stand at 1.5 million tonnes grading 3.12 g gold per tonne, 36.11 g silver, 0.84% copper and 3.59% zinc. The daily production rate will be 1,000 tonnes of ore from the open pit. The plant will begin processing underground ore in August.

During the current fiscal year which will run until March 31, 1988, Audrey is forecasting a production of 14,500 oz gold, 96,000 oz silver, 4.73 million lb copper and 18.6 million lb zinc.

Ore from Mobrun’s open pit has been undergoing processing at Minnova’s nearby Norbec mill, where 104,000 tonnes underwent metallurgical testing between October, 1986, and January, 1987. Certain modifications were made to the mill following the testing.

In June, tests on 10,797 tonnes of low grade ore from the open pit and of ore from underground exploration work yielded recoveries of 50.7% gold, 32.3% silver, 83.9% copper and 81.9% zinc. The net smelter return was $53.47 per tonne.

Higher metal prices and expected low costs of production — $24 per tonne for open pit and $32 per tonne underground — augur well for Mobrun’s profitability, Mr Hebert says.

Audrey’s investment in the Mobrun project is close to $13 million, Mr Hebert says. Exploration of the property was made possible through flow-through financing. The new mine will create 95 permanent jobs.

Audrey, which trades on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges, was incorporated in 1985.