After nearly two years of tunneling into the Beartooth mountains,
Drilling out front of the first tunnel-boring machine has intercepted 6.6 ft. of sulphide mineralization grading 1.25 oz. combined platinum and palladium, placing the reef 18,875 ft. in from the tunnel’s portal. The tunnel-boring machine is currently in 18,723 ft. and should intersect the reef shortly. The machine will proceed in the same direction for another 1,000 ft. before turning laterally.
The second tunnel-boring machine, offset from the first tunnel by several hundred feet, is moving along at 17,839 ft. and is expected to reach the reef shortly. It, too, will drift beyond the reef before turning parallel to the reef.
The two lateral drifts allow Stillwater to begin a 100-hole drilling program to prove up the mineralization for eventual mining.
After the drilling is completed, possibly by year-end, the company will begin test-mining to determine proper mining techniques and metallurgical recoveries, says Stillwater Chairman William Nettles. This information will be incorporated into a final feasibility study.
The J-M reef is highly variable in thickness, and the company has only conducted limited work in the area. Prior surface drilling outlined probable reserves of 13.3 million tons grading 0.71 oz. per ton, equivalent to 9.4 million oz. platinum and palladium, as well as 16.5 million tons of mineralized material at a similar grade.
East Boulder will be the company’s second underground operation on the 28-mile J-M reef. At full production of 2,000 tons per day, East Boulder will contribute as much as 500,000 oz. annually.
Along with expansion of the Stillwater mine to 3,000 tons per day, set for completion in 2001, the company expects to be producing at a rate of 1.2 million oz. combined metal per year at cash operating costs of less than US$160 per oz.
Meanwhile, metal prices remain at elevated levels, as the Russian contribution to the market remains uncertain. Platinum is hovering above US$550 per oz., while palladium is above US$650 per oz.
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