ONTARIO – St Andrew Goldfields (SAS) of Toronto says the estimated amount of contained gold has increased by one million ounces at its Taylor gold project near Timmins. Total measured and indicated resources are 38.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.58 g/t Au, or 3.1 million oz of contained gold. The inferred resource is 16.2 million tonnes grading 3.97 g/t Au, or 2.1 million oz of contained gold.
The new resource estimate was included in a pre-feasibility study that focuses on the West Porphyry zone of the Taylor project. Ore will be mined underground and trucked to SAS’s Holt mill for treatment. The project has an estimated life of four years with an annual production rate of 41,000 oz. Capital requirements will be C$78 million over the life of the mine, and total cash costs will be US$903/oz of gold.
SAS calls the conclusions of the pre-feasibility study “conservative” because it has identified several opportunities to optimize the project. The study only looked at the West Porphyry, and there is potential upside with further exploration and work on the Shoot zone. The life of mine gold price that was used was US$1,319/oz, and current prices are considerably more. Operating the Holt mill at a higher rate than currently, should drive down operating and unit costs.
For more information on location, property description and geology, see the "Taylor project" on the SAS website at SASgoldMines.com.
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