Mill expansion articleLake Shore mulls mill expansion to 3 000 t/d next yearTSX-listed Lake Shore Gold is “strongly considering” a further expansion of its Bell Creek mill in Timmins, Ontario, next year to 3 000 t/d, a senior executive said on Wednesday.
The company is already nearing completion of an expansion from 1 500 t/d to 2 000 t/d, which will be commissioned in October, said senior vice-president for operations
Mike Kelly.
Lake Shore Gold operates the Timmins gold mine, and bought junior West Timmins Mining last year, to add to its holdings in the historic mining camp.
The firm still expects to declare commercial production from the mine in the fourth quarter of this year, CEO
Tony Makuch said on a conference call.
The company expects to produce 65 000 oz this year, and plans to be at a rate of 10 000 oz a month by year-end, he said.
It expects to complete NI 43-101 resource estimates for the Bell Creek complex by the end of 2010, followed by a resource for the high-grade Thunder Creek prospect, next to the Timmins mine, in the first half of 2011.
A ramp to connect the Thunder Creek deposit with the Timmins mine on the 200 level was completed in June and development along the mineralisation at Thunder Creek is expected to start this month, which will allow the company to begin initial processing of Thunder Creek ore at the Bell Creek mill later in the year.
A ramp being developed on the 650 level is expected to reach Thunder Creek in October, Kelly said.