Ressources Appalches pours first gold from historic Dufferin mine
As the crow flies, Rimouski, Quebec, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River about 325km east of Quebec City, and the Town of Port Dufferin, Nova Scotia, on the south coast of the province approximately 140km east of Halifax, are almost on the same longitude, but about 600km apart.
It’s about a three-and-a-half hour flight in a small plane or almost six-hours by road through some of the more picturesque scenery in eastern Canada. Travellers will agree that it’s a pretty drive but after the first three or four hours or so, most admit that it’s also a monotonous and tiring journey.
At least that’s what Alain Hupe, president and CEO of Ressources Appalaches, says about the route from his Rimouski-based office to the site of his company’s Dufferin Gold Mine in Nova Scotia.
For the past six years since Ressources Appalaches became the new owner of the property, Hupe has been working on upgrading much of the mine’s infrastructure including a processing plant with an operating capacity of 300 tonnes/day, an access ramp, electrical power, and an eight-km gravel road connecting with Provincial Highway 7.
From the signing of the purchase agreement in 2008 and for the following three years, Ressources Appalaches conducted a drilling program to confirm the extension of the property’s gold-bearing quartz veins eastward and to depth.
The company completed 11,626 metres of drilling and in all, 73 holes were punched showing grades reaching as high as 339g/t Au over 0.4m and 350g/t Au over 0.3m, with significant intersections including 10.97g/t Au over 10.1m and 8.34g/t Au over 9.0m.
With these kinds of results and now with more than 18 quartz veins identified, the gold-bearing structure has been followed for 1.4km and down to a depth of nearly 400m.
Hupe says that vein #1 starts at the mine’s portal and plunges 8-10 to the east for a distance of about 1,200m to a depth of 200m. Work by previous owners indicated 12 other veins beneath the #1 vein, also extending eastwards. In addition, new veins have been located above #1 thanks to a continuous drilling program.
As already mentioned, the Dufferin Mine is not a new mine. In fact, mining was performed on and off between 1994 and now by three different companies. A total of 77,738 tonnes of ore has already been extracted and 9,053 ounces of gold recovered, with an average head grade of 6.1g/t Au and recoveries from 45 per cent to a maximum of 60 per cent.
With this historical information and new data obtained through its own drilling program, Ressources Appalaches moved forward with confidence, starting with the development of a -12% ramp access from the portal to new depths.
The ramp is 4m x 5m wide and is used as the primary access to the mining levels, as well as for mine ventilation, dewatering and other mine services.
Alain Hupe explained the initial development advanced along strike on the top of the saddles to access higher concentrations of gold and that drifts will also be used for diamond drilling and geology sampling for new mining zones.
“The approach to drilling below the initial access as well as along the flanks will depend on the size of the saddle as well as the reaching capabilities of the mining equipment. A minimum width of two metres will be maintained,” says Hupe.
Limb development, says Hupe, should represent only from 10 to 30 per cent of the total production and depending on the limb thickness and grade, decisions on how to proceed within each area will be made according to a number of criteria.
If vein thickness is greater that 1m and the estimated diluted grade is higher than 6g/t, benching will be used. If the vein is narrower than 1m, but diluted grades are higher than 6g/t, a slashing method, with occasional blasting, will be used in conjunction with a small underground excavator.
The mill feed target is set at a maximum of 300 tonnes/day with an average total mining rates of 500 tonnes/day which allows for approximately 200 tonnes/day of waste rock.
A standard development round will cover an area of approximately 20 m(2), with an advance of 4m per round with an actual drilling depth of 4.5m. Hupe says each standard round breaks about 212 tonnes of rock at a minimal rate of two rounds per day.
The company plans to maintain an ore stockpile to provide a minimum of 20 days of mill feed. The stockpile is segregated into high grade and low grade for grade control. Crushing takes place during the day shift only, leaving the fine ore bin full at the end of the shift and approximately 200 tonnes of crushed rock in the short-term stockpile located adjacent to the crusher.
In addition to crushing capabilties, a vast fleet of mining equipment is expected to be on site including one 2-boom jumbo (110 hp), one 1-boom jumbo (110 hp), two 16-t haul (165 hp) trucks, one 3.5-yard (165 hp) scoop, one 1.5-yard (110 hp) scoop, one (110 hp) scissor lift, one underground (110 hp) boom truck, one (75 hp) man carrier/explosive truck, and one (110 hp) low-profile grader.
It’s obvious that transforming an old mine into a new and productive property requires years of research and faith in the property but that’s what Ressources Appalaches is doing with its Dufferin Mine and as Alain Hupe says, the trip between his head office in Rimouski to the Town of Port Dufferin has often been long and monotonous but after seeing the company’s first gold pour in July, “It’s been worth it!”
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