New mine opens this month
Golden future for Lake Shore Gold
Lake Shore Gold will open its Timmins Project mine later this month. Company officials are excited at the prospect of eventually getting ore from up to four different sources.
The company plans to process it from the Timmins Project ramp beginning sometime this month. Lake Shore also hopes to get ore from the Timmins shaft, the Bell Creek mine and its Vogel property over the next three years.
The company target is 30,000 ounces of gold by the end of 2009.
“We hope to get up to 500 tonnes of ore per day by (the end of the year),” said Mark Utting, vice-president of investor relations.
When both the ramp and shaft are producing, the company believes it will see 1,500 tonnes per day.
Based on that number the Timmins Project mine will produce for around seven years.
“There’s still a lot of exploration potential,” Utting said.
“A good, significant percentage of our exploration budget is being spent doing underground drilling in Timmins. We think there’s a lot of opportunity to expand.”
When all four begin producing, they hope to extract 3,000 tonnes per day.
The ore will be processed at the company’s Bell Creek mill, which uses SO2 Cyanide Destruction technology to remove the chemical before the tailings leave the mill.
The 20-year-old technology has been called the best way to deal with tailings by Lake Shore Gold’s manager of environmental affairs, Harry Ollila.
The company discovered the Timmins Project on the west side of Timmins.
Lake Shore officials consider this their flagship project. It will be the first one that comes into fruition.
They’re also excited about their Thundercreek Property, which is a joint venture with Timmins West.
“It offers significant potential for us and our partner,” Utting said.
By 2011 they’re hoping to see 200,000 ounces of gold per year.
Lake Shore had its first pour of gold at Bell Creek on New Year’s Eve, but odds are good that it won’t be the company’s last one.
“It seemed like a good way to ring in the year,” Utting told The Daily Press.