Victoria Gold provided an operations update on the ramp up of its Eagle gold mine where the first gold was poured on Sept. 17.
Since the first gold pour, the mine has produced a total of 10,400 oz. gold and 1,600 oz. silver.
An estimated 2.2 million tonnes of ore has been mined from the Eagle pit, for a total of 4.4 million tonnes of material. According to the company, the mine plan, strip ratio and gold grade to the leach pad are in line with expectations with initial grade reconciliations between mining and the resource estimate performing well.
In excess of 2 million tonnes of ore has been stacked on the heap leach pad to date, with an additional 200,000 tonnes stockpiled and used to accelerate ore placement on the leach pad. Ore leaching commenced in August. In a September release, Victoria indicated that it plans to deliver over 3 million tonnes of ore to the heap leach pad by the end of the year.
The company is selling the precious metals as they are produced with current revenues from the sales exceeding cash operating costs and sustaining capital. The average gold sales price to date is $1,480 per ounce.
Commercial production is currently expected to be declared in the second quarter of 2020.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)