Westwood mine, Canada
Name: Westwood mine.
Location: The mine is located on the Doyon property, 40 km east of Rouyn-Noranda and 80 km west of Val d’Or, in south-western Quebec, Canada.
Controlling Company: Iamgold.
Brief History: Westwood began production in the first quarter of 2013. The mine started commercial production in July 2014.
Brief Description: The Westwood mine covers 1 925 ha and comprises 120 titles, one mining lease, one surface lease and three tailings leases. It is Iamgold’s only underground mine and is currently estimated to have a mine life of about 20 years in all the mining scenarios under consideration.
Products: Gold.
Geology/Mineralisation: The Westwood project is part of the Doyon-Bousquet-LaRonde (DBL) mining camp. The project is located within the southern Abitibi subprovince, in Archaean volcanic and intrusive rocks of the Bousquet Formation (2701-2696 Ma).
The project area is underlain by metavolcanics of the Blake River group and partly by metasediments of the Cadillac and Kewagama groups. Stratigraphy generally strikes east to west (100° to 110°), dips steeply to moderately (70° to 80°) towards the south and is interpreted to have a southerly facing direction. The Mooshla intrusive, a synvolcanic differentiated pluton, intrudes the volcanics in the western part of the property. Gold-bearing volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) and disseminated sulphide zones occurring in the eastern part of the claims are known as the Warrenmac and Westwood showings, and are respectively to the west and to the east of the Bousquet fault. Rocks hosting the Warrenmac-Westwood mineralisation are lithologically and geochemically similar to the host rocks of the main sulphide lenses at the LaRonde-Penna mine. The regional foliation strikes east to west, parallel to the stratigraphy, with dips varying from subvertical to 70° towards the south. Regional metamorphism is transitional from green schist to lower amphibolites facies.
Mineralisation observed in the DBL camp is mainly associated with units No 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 5.1 and 5.2 of the Bousquet formation. These units host gold-rich VMS-type mineralisation at the Bousquet and LaRonde deposits, and gold/sulphide vein-type mineralisation in Zones 1 and 2 at Doyon.
Three distinct mineralised envelopes are identified in the Westwood area. The first two zones – Zone 2 Extension and North Corridor – consist of quartz-pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite veins and veinlets within a matrix containing 2% to 10% disseminated pyrite.
The third envelope delineates the Warrenmac-Westwood mineralised corridor, located at the same stratigraphic contact on each side of the Bousquet fault. Both consist of gold-rich pyrite-sphalerite stringers or concentrations with local massive sulphide bands (5 cm to 20 cm) and minor gold-bearing sulphide-rich quartz veins/veinlets, all enveloped by a disseminated pyrite-rich alteration halo. Occasional black quartz veins with chalcopyrite traces return gold values, but not systematically. East to west subhorizontal quartz-tourmaline (pyrite) veins are also present, but rarely anomalous in gold.
Reserves: Proven reserves as at December 31, 2015, were estimated at 744 000 t, grading 7.5 g/t of gold. Probable reserves were estimated at 1.72-million tonnes, grading 7.6 g/t of gold.
Resources: Measured resources as at December 31, 2015, were estimated at 466 000 t, grading 12.7 g/t of gold. Indicated resources were estimated at 1.45-million tonnes, grading 11.8 g/t of gold. Inferred resources were estimated at 7.55-million tonnes, grading 11.3 g/t of gold.
Mining Method: Underground.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The pre-existing Doyon carbon-in-pulp mill complex is used for ore processing. Ore from the Westwood underground is hauled to the Doyon mill 2 km away to be crushed and ground. The ore-grinding circuit uses a semiautogenous mill and a 1 000 hp ball mill.
Prospects: Based on a revised life-of-mine plan undertaken, owing to an unusual seismic event in the early stages of the mine’s ramp-up, efforts in 2016 will focus on underground development to expand the number of mining areas, remedial work in the affected zones and development activities providing access to production blocks for future years. Throughout 2016, the mill will operate on a reduced schedule, owing to the low level of mining, with ramp-up to full capacity over the next four years. The company further plans to continue implementing cost- improvement initiatives to improve development productivity.
Contact: VP investor relations, Bob Tait.
Contact Details:
Iamgold,
tel +1 416 360 4710,
email info@iamgold.com, and
website http://www.iamgold.com.
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