Over the next five months, Mineral Resources Development Inc. (MRDI) will assess the economics of developing the project as a fly-in/fly-out, open-pit and underground operation with winter road access to the ocean-accessible town of Baker Lake, 70 km to the south. In addition, MRDI will set about advancing the project to the feasibility stage.
Golder Associates will assist MRDI by conducting geotechnical studies, while Nunavut Environmental will oversee all environmental matters.
The current efforts follow a preliminary scoping study completed earlier this year by MRDI, which concluded that a combined open-pit and underground operation could produce 120,000 oz. per year over a mine life of 10 years. A daily milling rate of 2,000 tonnes was assumed, resulting in an average cash operating cost of US$156 per oz. and capital expenditures of US$66 million (T.N.M., Sept. 14-20/98).
The Third Portage and North Portage zones are envisaged as open-pit mines, whereas underground methods would be employed at Goose Island. Together, the three deposits host in situ resources estimated at 1.5 million oz., more than half of which are contained in the two surface deposits, and all of it within 225 metres of surface.
With 4.5 million tonnes grading 7.06 grams gold per tonne, Third Portage is the largest of the three deposits. A little more than half the resource has been defined on drill spacings of 20 metres, and 500 metres of the deposit’s strike length are expected to provide a high-grade starter pit where average grades have exceeded 10 grams within 50 metres of surface.
Situated to the north, North Portage hosts a near-surface resource of 818,000 tonnes averaging 5.73 grams, whereas Goose Island, about 500 metres south of Third Portage, contains 976,800 tonnes at 11.5 grams. The latter is known for its greater abundance of visible gold and has an uncut average of 19.2 grams.
So far, geotechnical studies indicate that all three deposits have rock qualities suitable for the mining methods proposed, and preliminary metallurgical studies suggest that recovery rates in excess of 94% can be achieved using a combination of standard leach and gravity techniques.
Current resource estimates are based on 220 previously drilled holes, using a cutoff grade of 2 grams gold. It is expected that updated calculations will boost the property’s overall resource base.
Cumberland acquired a 60% interest in the Meadowbank property in mid-1993 and bought it outright in 1997. Since the initial acquisition, it has drilled more than 332 core holes, 97 of which were completed this year.
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