First brick of many at Doris North
Beth Brown
Northern News Services
Monday, February 20, 2017
KITIKMEOT
It's go time for gold at Doris North. The first gold pour at the Kitikmeot gold mine's new processing plant took place Feb. 9.
The first gold pour at Doris North took place on Feb. 9. - photo courtesy of Gord Morrison
The 100 ounce bar produced during the first gold pour at Doris North surprised mill workers for being of exceptional quality. - photo courtesy of Gord Morrison |
"The first gold pour is an enormous event in the life of a mine," said Ann Wilkinson, vice-president of investor relations for TMAC Resources Inc.
Just as noteworthy, she said, is the quality of the 100-ounce miniature test bar.
"If you look at photos from first gold pours, the gold bricks often look sludgy, have a low percentage of gold and often have to be remelted."
This bar was all yellow.
"People who commission mines regularly say they have never seen a first gold pour that looked like that."
The plant was tested with copper metal a few days prior to the pour.
"It wasn't a planned photo op, it just happened to be the right time to test," said chief executive officer Catharine Farrow.
She said while positive results of the pour show correct timing and skilled workmanship of the staff, it also speaks to the quality of the ore body.
"We don't have very many impurities in that ore body. Basically you are getting gold."
She said around 25 people witnessed the pour and approximately 100 of the 185 staff on site attended a town hall to see the first brick produced by the mine.
She said the brick, which at 100 ounces is much smaller than a regular 500 to 600 ounce gold bar, represents a great deal of effort for mine staff.
"It meant so much to everybody, whether you were a Northerner or Inuit mining on Inuit land, or you are somebody who has been a big part of this, it was just a thrill," said Farrow.
"We have employees that are (from) some of the original camps in the belt 30 years ago. To see the smiles on their faces, for me it was inspiring."
The mine is expecting to enter full production within the current quarter.
Mineral reserves for the mine, located 125 kilometres from Cambridge Bay, are estimated at 3.5 million ounces. This equates to a 20-year mine life.
"We expect that the gold produced this year will be somewhere between 130,000 and 140,000 ounces," said Wilkinson.
The new processing plant has the capacity to produce 1,000 tonnes of gold each day. A second plant, to be installed in the coming summer, will double that rate of production.
