Vancouver – The Rice Lake gold mine was officially opened by management of San Gold (SGR-V) at a celebration in Bissett, Manitoba, with the highlight being the pouring and viewing of two gold bars under the watch of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
About 500 guests, including mine employees and their families, were on hand for the August 23rd grand opening of Manitoba’s newest and only gold mine. The event also attracted local leaders, provincial government representatives, shareholders and other supporters. A local aboriginal drum and vocal group also took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Rice Lake mine head-frame.
Commercial operations began earlier this year, with ore coming from the Rice Lake mine and the smaller San No. 1 gold mine, which is connected to the 1,250-ton-per-day capacity Rice Lake mill by a 3.5-km-long private haulage road. At this stage, both mines are contributing equally to the current production rate of 400 tons per day, which is expected to double to 800 tons per day by year-end.
San Gold aims to increase production to 60,000 oz. gold next year, and steadily increase this to a target of 100,000 oz. annually in the years ahead. Cash costs are estimated to be below US$300 per oz.
The Rice Lake mine, previously known as the San Antonio or Bisset mine, began production in 1932 and produced 1.36 million oz. gold from 4.87 million tons to 1978. Rea Gold revived the project in the mid-1990s and carried out extensive underground development, but declared bankruptcy before production began. A unit of South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining (HMY-N, HRM-L) acquired the mine in 1998, and produced roughly 110,000 oz. before placing the mine on care-and-maintenance during a period of low gold prices. Total expenditures at that time totaled more than $120 million.
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