Claude Resources suspends operations to protect Seabee workers from fires
Where there’s smoke there’s fire is exactly what Claude Resources didn’t want to happen to its Seabee Gold Mine in northern Saskatchewan when smoke and heavy ash from nearby forest fires recently forced the company to suspend production for the safety of its workers.
In fact, with less than 10km separating the mine from the leading edge of one of the 112 fires, (including 25 that were out of control) that devastated more than 600,000 hectares of vegetation in northern Saskatchewan, the company had no problem making the decision to evacuate and temporarily suspend underground mining at the mine site.
As company President and CEO Brian Skanderbeg said, “Our number one priority is the safety and well being of our employees and as a precautionary measure during the recent fires, we moved all non-essential personnel from the site to help ensure that nobody was in danger.”
Production at the mill, however, was not affected because the company had a stockpile of approximately 10,000 tonnes of ore available on surface, representing about 12 days’ worth of production.
Now, with the fires out and everyone back at work, the mine is up and running again. To be more precise, the mine(s) are back in operation because the Seabee gold operation actually consists of two producing mines, the Seabee Gold Mine (since 1991), and the Santoy Gold Mine Complex (since January 2011).
The Seabee Gold operation is located in the La Ronge Mining District at the north end of Laonil Lake approximately 125km northeast of the Town of La Ronge and about 150km northwest of Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Access to the mine site is by fixed-wing aircraft from La Ronge or Flin Flon to an airstrip located on the property. Heavy equipment and other bulky mine supplies are trucked to the site on a 60-km winter road (typically used from January to March) from Brabant Lake on Highway 102.
There are approximately 260 people working at the mine.
The company’s Santoy Gold property, located about 14km east of the Seabee Mine, is a 4566-ha site that is connected by an all-weather road along with a power line to the main mine.
It consists of two deposits, Santoy 8 and Santoy Gap. During the first quarter of 2011, the Santoy 8 deposit reached commercial production and production from the Santoy Gap began during the second quarter of 2014.
Currently, Claude Resources is mining from the Santoy Gap deposit, and the Seabee Gold Mine is expected to be the main contributor of total production at the Seabee Gold Operation for years to come.
Brian Skanderbeg said the Santoy Gap development was ahead of schedule with long-hole production by milling 279,597 tonnes of ore (from Seabee and Gap)in 2014 at a head grade of 7.32 g/t and a recovery 96.2 per cent. Since May, 2014, it has milled 124,188 tonnes at a head grade of 8.44 g/t.
From this, Claude Resources produced 62,984 ounces of gold in 2014 and sold 62,772 ounces, an increase of 44 and 40 per cent respectively from the previous year.
In keeping with these encouraging results, Skanderbeg adds that first half results in 2015 continued with 142,030 tonnes milled at a head grade of 9.49 g/t and a recovery of 96.2 per cent.
Gold produced in the first half was 41,086 ounces, an increase of 39 per cent over the same period in 2014, and Claude Resources sold 37,860 ounces, an increase of 33 per cent more than in 2014.
When asked what makes the Santoy Gap so special, Skanderbeg says the system remains open at depth with 2,000 ounces per vertical metre (Seabee: 1,000 ounce/vertical metre) and a higher reserve grade with opportunity to increase, plus there’s a decreased production risk with the addition of multiple long-hole mining fronts.
Also, he said there’s the opportunity to displace low-margin ounces with higher-margin ounces and optimize the mine plan for improved cash flow.
To keep its prospects for future growth alive, Claude Resources continues with a significant underground drilling program of approximately 65,000 metres this year, and with resources of more than 1.27 million ounces of gold (NI 43-101), 1000 metres of shafts at Seabee, tailing facilities permitted for six years, and a mill capable of producing 900 tonnes per day, the company is well positioned to be one of Canada’s more noteworthy gold miners for years to come.
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