TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Precious metals project developer Pretium Resources’ TSX-listed stock on Friday almost doubled in value after the company announced that it had surpassed its target of recovering 4 000 oz of gold from the 10 000 t bulk sample from the Valley of the Kings, at its Brucejack project, in British Columbia.

The company reported that it had produced 4 215 oz of gold from 8 090 dry tonnes of excavated material from the Valley of the Kings bulk sample programme.

The company also produced 3 593 oz of silver.

About 1 815 wet tonnes remained to be processed.

Pretium said the processing was continuing on track and was expected to be completed by the first week of December, after a week-long mill shutdown for the US Thanksgiving holiday.

The company had started shipping and selling the gravity concentrate and the flotation concentrate shipment was expected to start once processing was complete.

The final gold production numbers would be announced at the end of processing and assaying that was expected by mid-December.

Permitting of a high-grade underground gold mine at Brucejack was currently under way, with commercial production targeted to start in 2016.

Pretium's shares fell sharply early in October, when Strathcona Minerals Services resigned from their part of overseeing the bulk sample project, aimed at addressing grade continuity.

As at June, the Valley of the Kings zone at Brucejack had produced a 6.6-million ounce resource, averaging 13.6 g/t gold. The Brucejack project had a total compliant proven and probable resource estimate of 19-million tonnes grading 12 g/t gold and 58 g/t silver, for 7.3-million ounces of gold and 35.3-million ounces of silver.

Pretium’s shares rose more than 81.49% on Friday morning, trading at $5.59 apiece around 13:00 EST.

Earlier in the morning, the stock had risen to a high of $6.08 apiece, almost double its closing price of $3.08 on Thursday.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada on Friday morning briefly halted the company’s stock twice, citing “single-stock circuit breaker” as the reason for the halts.