Wheaton to resume mining at Golden Bear — Hedging program clears a path

The completion of a hedging program has paved the way for Wheaton River Minerals (WRM-T) to blast the first round in the pit at the Golden Bear gold mine, in northwestern British Columbia.

The junior, which holds an 82% interest in mine-owner North American Metals, has hedged 177,000 oz. gold at a minimum price of US$379 per oz. The program accounts for 83% of the first five years of expected production and represents the final step to commencement of mining activities.

To protect against currency fluctuations, the companies have sold forward their cash flows, in U.S. dollars, for the next two years.

Starting in July, ore will be loaded on a previously constructed leach pad, with the first gold production slated for early September. Subsequent leaching will make use of a second, larger pad, to be completed later this summer.

By year-end, the mine is expected to have produced 25,000 oz. gold, with annual output steadily increasing to a peak of 51,000 oz. by 2000. At these production rates, the mine is projected to crank out a total of 214,000 oz.

gold over a 6-year life span.

At last report, minable reserves at Golden Bear stood at 1.5 million tonnes grading 5.13 grams gold per tonne. These are contained in the Kodiak A, Ursa and Kodiak B deposits, which, respectively, host 760,000 tonnes grading 3.3 grams gold, 520,000 tonnes of 6.9 grams, and 184,000 tonnes of 8.7 grams.

Kodiak A features an additional stockpile of 65,000 tonnes grading 2.5 grams gold.

Kodiak A and Ursa will be mined by open-pit methods at stripping ratios of 1-To-1 and 7-To-1, respectively. Kodiak B will be mined by underground, bulk-Mining methods.

In addition to the three deposits, the Golden Bear project contains the Grizzly and Kodiak C deposits, as well as a low-grade stockpile on surface.

The stockpile contains reserves of 2.5 million tonnes grading 1.3 grams gold, whereas the deposits host a reserve of 152,945 tonnes grading 20.5 grams gold and a resource of 276,000 tonnes grading 7.8 grams, respectively. These millfeed sources would, if brought into production, provide an additional 277,000 oz.

Currently, Wheaton is drilling two deep holes immediately north of the Grizzly deposit in an effort to extend that deposit along strike.

“If we can add 50% to the size of Grizzly’s resource, it would make a nice little mine on its own,” says Kerry Knoll, a director of Wheaton. “It’s a refractory ore, but we have a roaster at the mill, and any production from Grizzly would supplement the other production.”