Sabina to construct Goose mill at 4 000 t/d at outset
Precious metals developer Sabina Gold and Silver has announced optimisation to the plan for its Goose mine, at the Back River district in Nunavut.
The updated feasibility study of February 2021 contemplated a mill producing 3 000 t/d for the first two years, increasing to 4 000 t/d in year two with a sustaining capital cost for the expansion of about C$17-million.
As part of the updated study, an initial 4 000 t/d mill was considered. However, at the time, the settled tailings density was based on the previous pre-leach thickener test work. This work resulted in a lower Echo openpit tailings capacity and a decision to delay the mill expansion timeline.
Sabina says that since the updated feasibility study, completion of detailed geotechnical test work on the tailings samples and the inclusion of a high-capacity tailings thickener, the tailings storage capacity of the Echo openpit has increased sufficiently to enable the decision to construct the mill at a 4 000 t/d capacity at the outset. This, in addition to optimised equipment selection and detailed engineering, has reduced the cost of the expansion to C$10-million.
The current mine plan includes the complete mining of the Echo openpit and seven quarters of mining from the Umwelt openpit during the construction phase of the project. As per the feasibility study, this provides 2.2-million tonnes of stockpiled ore containing 373 000 oz of gold, including 936 000 high-grade tonnes at 8.4 g/t gold prior to commissioning of the mill.
In addition, the current mine plan includes an additional 3.5-million tonnes mined in the first three years of operations, enabling 4 000 t/d of mill capacity without the need to increase the mining rate or modify the existing mine plan.
The Back River permitting was completed based on a maximum 6 000 t/d mill capacity and thus no additional permitting or authorizations are required for this modification.
“We are pleased that additional test work has resulted in this conclusion,” says Sabina president and CEO Bruce McLeod. “It is the option that makes sense from an operational and cost perspective and has the potential to improve payback by delivering increased gold production in the earlier stages of the mine life.”
The Goose mine is the first mine on the 80 km Back River Gold district.
Comments
The
functionality
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation