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Casa Berardi mine, Canada

26th November 2021

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name of the Mine
Casa Berardi mine.

Location  
The Casa Berardi mine is situated 95 km north of La Sarre, in Quebec, Canada, and straddles a 37 km section of the Casa Berardi fault.

Mine Owner/s  
Hecla Mining.

Brief Description  
Casa Berardi is an underground trackless mine accessed by declines and a shaft.

The complex comprises the West mine and the East mine underground mining operations, and the Principal zone.

Brief History  
Production began at the East mine in September 1988 and at the West mine in April 1990.

Hecla acquired mining company Aurizon on June 1, 2013, and has operated the Casa Berardi mine since the acquisition.

Primary Metals/Minerals  
Gold.

Secondary Metals/Minerals  
None stated.

Geology/Mineralisation  
Casa Berardi can be classified as an Archean sedimentary-hosted orogenic gold deposit. Mineralisation is found in large low-sulphide quartz veins developed against the Casa Berardi fault, and in disseminated sulphides and stockworks lenses associated with strongly carbonate-sericite altered ductile deformation zones obliquely oriented to the Casa Berardi fault, and extending a few hundred metres on both sides of the fault, following north-west and north-east orientations. Gold mineralisation emplacement was coeval with the fault`s evolution and shows a strong structural control and vertical extension, even if other factors, such as the nature of some host rocks and lithological contacts, seem to have favoured gold deposition. The mineralisation system comprises large, low-sulphide quartz veins, with low-grade stockworks and carbonate-mica replacement zones forming in the West mine and Principal area.

Reserves  
The Casa Berardi openpit had total proven and probable reserves of 14.2-million tons grading 0.08 oz/t gold as at December 31, 2020. The underground mine had total proven and probable reserves of 2.57-million tons grading 0.15 oz/t gold.

Resources  
The Casa Berardi openpit had total measured and indicated resources of 2.45-million tonnes grading 0.07 oz/t gold and underground resources of 7.66-million tonnes grading 0.14 oz/t.

Total inferred resources for the Casa Berardi openpit were estimated at 9.23-million tons grading 0.06 oz/t as at December 31, 2020, and at 2.45-million tons grading 0.18 oz/t gold for the underground mine.

Mining Method  
The ore at Casa Berardi is extracted using a combination of underground and openpit mining methods.

The underground mines are trackless and are accessed by a combination of ramps and a production shaft. The mining method is longhole stoping using traverse and longitudinal orientations, depending upon the widths of the zone.

Openpit mining is used to extract near-surface mineralisation, above the existing underground mining horizons and in areas without economic underground resources. Currently, one openpit mine is in production and another is being developed. Three additional pits are anticipated.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment  
Surface facilities at the East mine include a 3 863 t/d processing plant, a tailings pond, two administrative buildings with offices, shops and a warehouse. Underground infrastructure at the East mine includes a 380-m-deep shaft, a decline and a series of ramp-connected levels.

Surface infrastructure at the West mine includes a 125 t/h paste backfill plant; a cement plant; a dry house with offices, shops, and warehouses; two ventilation raise intakes; and a gate house. Underground infrastructure includes a decline from surface and a shaft to the 1 080 m level, with corresponding ore and waste passes. The West mine infrastructure includes the Principal mine area, which is developed to provide mine services. A 5 km track drift joins the East and West mines and provides underground access to the Principal mine area.

Prospects  
Hecla Mining is expanding resources at the West, Principal and East mines.

Contact Details
Hecla Mining
Tel +1 208 769 4100
Email hmc-info@hecla-mining.com
Website https://www.hecla-mining.com/

Sources
Hecla Mining. Website: https://www.hecla-mining.com/ (accessed November 2021).
Hecla Mining. Reserves for the year ended December 31, 2020. 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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