The Graduating Class 1987 GOLD REPORT TARTAN LAKE

Production is expected to get under mid-year from the Tartan Lake joint venture between Granges Exploration and Abermin Corp. A feasibility study was recently completed by Kilborn Engineering and initial product ion should begin at 300 tons per day. The mine is about eight miles northea st of Flin Flon, Man.

The development is a first for both companies. For Granges, which has been reg arded mainly as an exploration entity, the project represents its first attempt as a mine operator. But the transition shouldn’t be too difficult because the co mpany has contributed to the running of the nearby Trout Lake base metal mine, o perated by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting. The Granges group has a 19.8% interes t in that operation.

Tartan will mark Abermin’s first involvement in a producing mine. That fact could act as a catalyst for the independent development of another property in i ts fold — the Lara deposit on Vancouver Island. This is a polymetallic gold pro perty which will be the focus of a $1-million exploration program this year.

Many Canadian gold producers, though they’ve been around for decades, have started production with considerably less in the way of reserves. Indicative of the additional potential at Tartan, there are more than six miles of favorable terrain included in the joint venture. Main zone reserves (fully diluted) are estima ted by Abermin at 952,381 tons grading 0.28 oz gold per ton. Granges publishes a different reserve figure for that zone: 513,000 tons grading 0.349 oz. Nevertheless the two estimates are not necessarily incompatable since the latter figure is undiluted. There are also other reserves in smaller lenses.

A major underground development and drilling program was initiated in mid- 1986 to confirm the continuity of the ore zone. Results from that program will be i ncorporated into the Kilborn feasibility report, which should make it a bankable document, says Abermin President Roger Taylor. An exploration decline is being put down between the Main and South zones and will ultimately reach a depth of 5 00 ft. A cross-cut was driven into the No. 2 lens in the Main zone at a depth of 400 ft to confirm ore continuity.

Both zones are being drilled from the underground and results appear to be better than those yielded in the surface program. Ground conditions have been excel lent; and with a cut- and-fill mining method, dilution should be kept to a minim um. The joint venture plans to use underground mining techniques perfected at Tr out Lake and a portable mill to ensure low costs. By Sept 30, 1986, about $5 mil lion had been spent on the project; it will take $17 million more to achieve pro duction.

The companies estimate that another $1 million will be required to expand the mill to 500 tpd and that a similar amount will be needed for new mining equipment to supply the enlarged milling facility. A timetable for such an expansion has yet to be announced.