Name of the Project
Garrison gold project.

Location
Kirkland Lake region in Ontario, Canada.

Project Owner/s
O3 Mining.

Project Description
The project envisages an 11 000 t/d openpit mining and carbon-in-leach processing operation, with production spanning 12 years.

The operation will have a total mill feed of 47.3-million tonnes from the 903, Jonpol and Garrcon deposits, resulting in life-of-mine gold production of 1.13-million ounces.

The 903 deposit is planned as one pit split into three phases or pushbacks. The Jonpol deposit is planned as one pit split into two phases. The Garrcon deposit is planned as five pits, with the biggest (western) pit split into two phases.

The project will target production of more than 121 000 oz/y of gold during years 1 to 8, while peaking at more than 155 000 oz in Year 2.

Mine planning is based on conventional openpit methods suited to the project location and local site requirements.

Owner-operated and managed openpit operations are expected to begin one year before mill startup, then run for nine years to pit exhaustion. This will be followed by three years of low-grade stockpile reclamation to the mill.

The Garrison process plant will use standard carbon-in-leach (CIL) technology, along with gravity concentration for gold recovery. The plant includes crushing, grinding, gravity concentration, classification, leach and CIL, as well as detoxification, before deposition into a tailings storage facility. The mill will be fed with material from the Garisson pit at about four-million tonnes a year at an average throughput of 11 000 t/d.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $470-million and an internal rate of return of 41.1%, with a payback of two years.

Capital Expenditure
The project will require capital expenditure of $267-million for a four-million-tonne-a-year processing plant, including mine preproduction, infrastructure (roads, power line relocation, tailings facility, ancillary buildings and water management).

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The results of the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) indicate that the proposed project has technical and financial merit using the base case assumptions. It has also identified additional fieldwork, metallurgical testwork, trade-off studies and analyses that are required to support more advanced mining studies.

The PEA has proven to be sufficiently reliable and the Garrison project has been recommended to be advanced to the next stage of development through the initiation of a prefeasibility study and working towards the completion of an environmental-impact study for the project while exploring the geological potential of the project.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Ausenco (lead consultant).

Contact Details for Project Information
O3 Mining, tel +1 416 363 8653 or email info@o3mining.com.