NYSE- and TSX-listed McEwen Mining has reached commercial production at its Gold Bar mine, which is under the supervision of its new Nevada general manager (GM), Jack Henris.

Henris joined McEwen from Goldcorp, where he was VP of mining and geotechnical. His appointment is aimed at driving operational improvement, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

“Under the leadership of our new GM Jack Henris, our team at Gold Bar is focused on identifying and implementing operational enhancements to increase our daily throughput. I’m pleased to see that the mine has operated at 125% of our planned 7 200 t/d production rate on several days during the past month,” said president and COO Chris Stewart.

McEwen reported that production had been steadily increasing since the first gold pour on February 16. The mining company is forecasting production of 50 000 oz at an all-in sustaining cost of $975/oz in 2019.

ONTARIO DRILLING RESULTS

Meanwhile, the Toronto-based miner also reported positive exploration drill results from its Black Fox mine, near Timmins, Ontario.

Senior VP for exploration Sylvain Guerard said that for a mine with a history of producing 5 g/t gold, the drill assay results were “very encouraging”.

“These results highlight the significant potential of our exploration to extend the mine life at Black Fox and improve its profitability. Our geologists are building an improved geologic model of the Black Fox deposit that should allow us to grow our resources through near-mine exploration and enable more effective mine planning. We have a large and exciting year of exploration ahead of us.”
 
At the Fox area of the Black Fox property assay results have been received for seven holes, with assays pending for an additional 13 holes. The drill results included positive results from two targets in the Grey Fox area, which comprises three deposits – 147, Contact and South, and two targets – 147NE and Gibson, which cumulatively host estimated indicated resources of 465 000 oz of gold (2.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 6.64 g/t).

“The reported drill intersections at the 147NE and Gibson targets are highly encouraging. The potential of the Grey Fox Area to host additional mineralisation is improving rapidly," said Guerard.