Production to increase at Abcourt-Barvue mine

Production at Abcourt Mines’ Abcourt-Barvue silver-zinc mine in northwestern Quebec is planned to increase gradually to 700 tons per day in January, 1987, the company says.

The mine averaged 471 tons per day, at a cost of $44.33 per ton, in the first quarter (June 1-Sept 30), administration manager Jules Boudreau says. Located 100 km north of Val d’Or, Que., the mine began production in February.

Our aim is to produce 750 tons per working day,” he said, and I’m optimistic we will achieve that.”

Ore grades, which now average 4.9 oz silver and 5.3% zinc per ton, are also expected to improve slightly when production reaches some high grade stopes in the beginning of January, the Montreal-listed company says.

Abcourt ships its ore to Noranda Inc.’s Orchan mill in the Mattagami Lake area. The mill recovery rates are 82.3% for silver and 88.4% for zinc, Mr Boudreau says.

While the silver concentrate is sold directly to Noranda, 5,000 tons of zinc is shipped to the Swedish company Boliden Ore and Metals, which operates out of Quebec City, he says. The balance is sold to Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co.’s smelter in Flin Flon, Man.

Despite low silver and zinc prices, the company reports a cash flow of $729,000 for the first five months of production. Abcourt paid out $160,000 for each quarter to cover the dividend on its one million, 9% convertible preferred shares.

For the year ending June 30, the company enjoyed a net profit of $186,000, with $320,000 paid out in preferred dividends, Mr Boudreau says. Working capital for the year was $6.6 million or 48 cents per share on a fully diluted basis.

Abcourt owns a 10% interest in Meston Lake Resources, a potential go ld producer,” and has an option to acquire a 50% interest on the Ontex Resources property where previous work has indicated 90,000 tons of ore with a grade of 0.33 oz gold per ton. This property is a few miles from Abcourt’s current mining operations.

Abcourt’s Barvue property was a zinc producer from 1952-57, yielding more than five million tons from an open pit that extended 250 ft deep. The property was purchased in 1983 from Noranda Exploration and a deal was made to lease a circuit at its Orchan mill. The reserves have been calculated to the 1,000-ft level although most are above 500 ft.