Toronto-based Rubicon Minerals Corp. continues to advance its Phoenix gold project near Red Lake as it prepares to release a preliminary economic assessment in Q3 2018.
The trial mining and bulk sampling program completed in 2018 will provide much of the data for the PEA. The mill achieved 1,540 t/d throughput rate with total gold recovery of 85.1%, including 43.2% that reported to the gravity circuit. Bulk mining was accomplished using sublevel longhole methods at an average dilution of only 8.7% in the three test stopes.
The underground infrastructure has a 730-metre-deep operational shaft and more than 14,000 metres of finished development. There is also an underground ramp. On the surface the hoist is ready to go, civil and earthworks are in place, and the electric substation is operational. The 200-person camp, tailings management facility and tails water treatment plant have all been upgraded.
“We remain excited and optimistic,” said Rubicon president and CEO George Ogilvie. “The new PEA will benefit from real, operational data collected during our recent test trial mining and bulk sampling program, where we implemented actual mining techniques that could be utilized under a potential commercial production scenario.”
This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal