Richmont Mines: Producing gold from mines in two provinces
Australia has its “Gold Coast,” Toronto-Hamilton-Niagara Falls is known as the “Golden Horseshoe,” but the “Abitibi Gold Belt” that straddles the borders of Northern Ontario and Quebec is the ‘real deal’ when it comes actual gold.
In fact, unlike the “Gold Coast” and the “Golden Horseshoe,” the “Abitibi Gold Belt” is historically known for its ‘gold’ and since the area was discovered in 1901, more than 100 mines have produced approximately 170 million ounces of gold from the region.
Stretching about 500 km from Wawa, Ontario to Val-d’Or, Quebec, the Abitibi Gold Belt is a massive structure that has attracted some of the biggest names in Canadian gold mining.
From the early 1900s of the Hollinger, MacIntyre and Big Dome Mines, to the more recent Malartic and Detour Lake mines by Osisko Mining and Detour Gold respectively, the Abitibi greenstone belt, in which the “Gold Belt” is situated, has also been prolific with other minerals, including more than 35 billion pounds of zinc, 15 billion pounds of copper, and 400 million ounces of silver.
But it’s the gold that’s still the biggest attraction and that’s why Richmont Mines of Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, is there today with properties in both provinces. Working from both ends of the “Gold Belt,” Richmont currently produces gold from its Island Gold Mine near Wawa, Ontario, where it has an on-site mill, and from its Beaufor Mine in Val-d’Or, with ore from this operation processed at its wholly owned Camflo Mill 50 km away in Malartic, Quebec.
It’s an enviable setup and one that Richmont President and CEO Paul Carmel says has enabled the company to keep a tighter control on costs while at the same time producing more than 1.3 million ounces since it started mining in 1991.
Richmont has also had gold mining interests in Newfoundland in the past, but today focus is primarily on the Wawa and Val-d’Or, operations, that President Carmel says has put the company on the map.
“We are very pleased with some very notable improvements in the second quarter of 2013 at our Beaufor Mine in Val-d’Or where we’ve seen a 53 per cent decrease in cash-cost-per-ounce to $777 thanks to a selective mining approach and to our employees who have worked hard to help improve our productivity.”
Owning its own mill can certainly have its advantages and Carmel says the Camflo Mill is now operating at full capacity and he credits that to being a big factor in enabling the company to deliver lower unit costs.
With two mines and two mills on the go, one would think that Richmont Mines has its hands full but like all progressive mining companies, further exploration and development is on going and again, President Carmel says the company has a “selective mining” business plan for the future.
Part of that plan, says Carmel, is to move ahead with the company’s Monique property, an open-pit gold project, and the W Zone project, a near-surface ramp access satellite deposit on the Beaufor Mine property, both of which are located about 50km from the company’s Camflo Mill.
The Monique deposit has open-pit proven and probable reserves of 485,737 tonnes grading 2.29 g/t Au and containing 35,698 ounces of gold, and additional 107,531 indicated resource tonnes underground, directly beneath the open-pit, at 4.88 g/t Au containing 16,858 ounces of gold. The W Zone Project has probable reserves of 132,251 tonnes grading 7.21 g/t Au and containing 30,680 ounces of gold, 107,511 indicated resource tonnes at 6.76 g/t Au containing 23,377 ounces of gold, and additional 5,589 inferred resource tonnes at 7.95 g/t Au containing 1,429 ounces of gold.
“The potential addition of these operations to Richmont’s operating mines is consistent with our strategy to increase mine life and resources from our Quebec assets by bringing on additional sources for our mill,” says Carmel.
The new Monique open pit is expected to have a life of 19 months and a mining rate of 22,500 tonnes per month. It’s expected to produce approximately 30,000 ounces of gold at an average cost of $904.00 per ounce, with commercial production slated to begin in Q4 2013. The W Zone Project is projected to generate 6,000 tonnes per month of commercial production, with commercial production also expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Monique and the W Zone projects are without question, welcomed additions to the Richmont family of mines but as mentioned at the outset, it’s the Beaufor and Island Gold Mines, plus the Camflo Mill, that have put the company on the map and here’s a brief look at what each of these operations have to offer.
The Beaufor Mine has been central to the company’s operations over the years, based on the fact that it’s been in the Richmont family since 1996 and has so far produced over 500,000 ounces of gold for the company, and in excess of 1,000,000 ounces for various companies since the 1930’s.
It’s an underground operation featuring long-hole and room-and-pillar mining methods with a production shaft to the 648 m level. During the first half of 2013, 65,215 tonnes of ore were processed at head grade of 5.63 g/t, and 11,553 ounces of gold were sold at an average price of $1,489 per ounce.
As President Carmel mentioned earlier, hard work by the company’s employees have helped increase productivity across the board and safety has also played a factor in that miners at the Beaufor Mine have recorded six years (1 million hours) without a lost-time accident.
At the Island Gold Mine, President Carmel admits that the operational performance was slightly below expectations in the first half of 2013 because of a haulage equipment shortage, but with the recent acquisition of four new 30-tonne capacity Caterpillar trucks, he expects production to increase.
During the first half of 2013, a total of 107,414 tonnes of ore were processed at an average head grade of 4.71g/t. That represented a 12 per cent decrease in tonnage from the 121,411 tonnes of ore processed in the first half of 2012 at an average head grade of 5.52 g/t.
The Island Gold Mine is an underground operation using a long-hole method of mining and while it may be slightly off in terms of production so far this year, when it comes to development, the mine is moving ahead as Richmont continues work on the mine’s access ramp as part of its development of the Island Gold Deep project.
Work so far this year has taken the ramp to a vertical depth of 510 metres, and is on track to attain a vertical depth of 570 metres by the end of 2013.
Located below the Island Gold Mine’s current infrastructure and reserve and resource base, the Island Gold Deep project has an estimated inferred mineral resource of 508,000 gold ounces at a grade of 10.73 g/t Au. The company is spending $17 million on the project in 2013 while also continuing to drill the zone, which remains open both laterally and at depth.
President Carmel says, “There’s an internal study currently underway to ascertain the optimal levels to establish an exploration drift and our initial mining horizon. A total of 13,797 metres of exploration drilling were completed on the Island Gold Deep project during the second quarter, bringing the total to 25,389 metres year-to-date and in line with our expectations and budget.”
In keeping with the ramp development, Carmel says there are two drills working between the 400 metre and 500 metre levels aimed to converting existing resources into reserves and identifying new resources in t
he upper horizons of the Island Gold Mine.
And finally, there’s the Camflo Mill where all of the ore from the company’s Beaufor Mine and Monique and W Zone projects is processed. As with all mine mills, it’s the workhorse and backbone of the operation. It’s a Merrill-Crow conventional type mill with circuits designed for crushing, grinding, gold cyanidation and precipitation using zinc powder.
It has a rated capacity of 1,200 short tons per day.
From Wawa to Val-d’Or, and stops in between, Richmont Mines has the “Abitibi Gold Belt” covered and thanks to its safe and “selective mining” operations, gold will continue to flow from this historic part of Canada for years to come.
Comments