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Gold not money

Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 23/01) - Yellowknife's Con and Giant mines produced more gold in this year's second quarter than last year's but received less money per ounce for their efforts.

The mines, owned by Miramar Mining Corporation, produced and shipped a total of 36,760 ounces of gold at $255 US per ounce during this year's second quarter compared to 30,060 ounces at $269 US last year during the same period.

Miramar is negotiating the fate of the Giant Mine. It gave notice last June to the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development that it will return Giant Mine on Dec. 14 of the is year. The company is trying to settle its future involvement with the mine and include options for continued operations as well as care and maintenance.

"If Miramar stays on after Dec. 14 the decision has to be made in short order," said Miramar's operations vice-president Brian Labadie.

Employees at the mine face layoffs if the mine closes completely.

"We want to accommodate the employees," said Labadie adding that Miramar would like to settle with the government by the end of August.

"We don't want to leave it 'til December 13."

Miramar's two Yellowknife mines produced 65,937 ounces at $258 US per ounce in the first half of this year compared to 56,202 ounces at $276 US during the same period last year.

"This puts us in a strong position to meet or exceed our production forecast for 2001 of 125,000 ounces of gold at $260 US per ounce," said Miramar vice-president and chief executive officer Tony Walsh.

The two mines generated about $1.5 million after expenses like direct site mining, milling, administrative costs, mine development, and capital expenditures, and concurrent arsenic re-mediation and reclamation.

Arsenic treatment was started last June by engineering consultants Fluor Daniel Wright. Arsenic sludge treatment rates averaged over 40 tons per day. At that rate the processing of all of the Con arsenic wastes would be processed within approximately a two-year period.