Toronto-based Marathon Gold has appointed Ausenco Engineering Canada as the lead consultant for the prefeasibility study (PFS) at the Valentine gold project in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Marathon president and CEO Matt Manson says Ausenco’s Canadian team has the most recent direct experience in the development of a large openpit gold project in the Maritimes, as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor at the Moose River gold mine developed by Atlantic Gold (now St Barbara).
As lead consultant in the PFS, Ausenco will undertake a trade-off study designed to assess the optimum scope, value, and execution strategy for the project, and will incorporate an updated production schedule, facilities design, operating and capital cost estimates, and process design based on ongoing metallurgical studies.
Moose Mountain Technical Services will assist Ausenco with a mineral reserve estimation and mine design.
The PFS will also incorporate the results of work currently being conducted by Terrane Geoscience in geotechnical drilling and pit slope design, by Gemtec for hydrogeology, by Stantec for environmental assessment, and John T. Boyd Company for an updated mineral resource estimate.
The PFS is expected to take about six months to complete, with results expected early in the second quarter of 2020.
An October 2018 preliminary economic assessment showed the project to be amenable to openpit mining and conventional milling over a 12-year mine life.
The total mineral resources currently comprise measured mineral resources of 16.6-million tonnes at a grade of 2.18 g/t containing 1.17-million ounces of gold, indicated resources of 28.5-million tonnes at a grade of 1.66 g/t containing 1.52-million ounces of gold and inferred resources of 26.9-million tonnes at a grade of 1.77 g/t containing 1.53-million ounces.