Golden Bear awakens from winter sleep

Operator Wheaton River Minerals (WRM-T) has resumed production at the Golden Bear gold mine in northwestern British Columbia.

The seasonal operation, which reentered production last August after several years of dormancy (known reserves had been depleted in 1994), is owned by North American Metals (NAM-V), which is 87% owned by Wheaton.

A total of 1,500 oz. gold has been poured this year and another 23,500 oz.

are expected to follow before the mine is closed once again for the winter months. Cash costs in 1998 are anticipated at US$236 per oz., which is US$23 higher than in 1997, when 30,900 oz. gold were produced.

Activity at the mine is currently focused on leaching residual gold from heaps piled on the leach pad during the previous season. The nearly barren ore will be replaced shortly with fresh material from the Kodiak A open-pit deposit. A total of 411,000 tonnes will be mined from Kodiak A in 1998, 151,000 tonnes of which will be stockpiled.

In 1999, mining will switch to the nearby Ursa deposit, which hosts reserves amenable to open-pit mining totalling 519,000 tonnes grading 7 grams gold per tonne. The ore will be stacked on a second, nearby leach pad, with the pregnant solution to be treated in a recovery plant that will be completed by the end of 1998.

Production in 1999 is anticipated at 44,000 oz. gold, rising to 47,700 oz. in the following year and 63,000 oz. in the next. The incremental increase in output is expected to keep cash costs over this period at an average of US$206 per oz.

Meanwhile, Wheaton plans to shortly begin infill drilling at its Bellavista gold project in Costa Rica. Core holes totalling over 7,600 metres will be drilled as part of a bankable feasibility study to be completed in early 1999.

The Bellavista gold deposit hosts proven and probable reserves of 9.59 million tonnes grading 1.66 grams gold that are amenable to open-pit mining.

An additional resource of 1.6 million tonnes averaging 4.37 grams gold is potentially minable by underground methods, and is the sole focus of the infill drilling program.

The company sustained a loss of $304,000 in the three months ended March 31, compared with a loss of $451,000 in the corresponding period of 1997. Its cash position between the periods rose, however, to $8.6 million from $1.2 million. For 1998, Wheaton has 22,000 oz. gold hedged at US$333 per oz.