Midway Gold Corp. ("Midway" or the "Company") (MDW:TSX, MDW:NYSE-MKT) provides a progress update on the construction of the Pan Project, the Company’s first open pit, heap leach project in White Pine County, NV. Pan is currently under construction with first gold pour targeted for late Q4 2014.
Construction-Related Milestones:
- The leach pad is complete and ready for ore
- Pregnant solution pond is complete and undergoing final integrity tests
- Haul roads to leach pad and waste piles are complete
- Ore stacking onto the leach pad has begun today, September 15
- The barren pond is scheduled to be completed by the week of September 22
- ADR plant concrete is complete and ready for equipment installation by month end
- ADR steel erection is scheduled to begin by month end
- ADR and refinery completion is forecast for mid-December
- The two water wells for commercial production water are in and operating
- Temporary fire protection systems are in place
- Intra-plant roads are in place and operational
- The major earth works contractor, VT Construction, is de-mobilizing from site
- All equipment is either on site or awaiting release for shipment to site for installation
Operational Milestones:
- Ledcor, Midway’s contract miner, mobilized to site on July 21
- Access ramps are completed and ore faces are now open for mining and placement of mined ore to leach pad
- Contracts for major consumables are in place and receipt of goods under the contracts has commenced
- Staffing of Ledcor to full strength of 4 crews for 2 shifts, seven days per week is expected to be complete September 30
- Operational hiring is on schedule with most professionals in place
- All operations staff will move to site by month end from the Ely offices
- Detailed start-up planning is well underway and operating training will commence by month end for key positions
A Statement from Midway President and CEO, Ken Brunk
We are providing this update on the construction of the Pan project as well as other activities occurring while we advance Midway toward gold production late this year. Overall, the project is proceeding on a schedule that should allow for gold production to begin late this year. Unfortunately, the schedule for completion has slipped by approximately one month due to extraordinary summer rainfall, especially impacted by a major storm event at a critical construction time in late July. The severe rainfall referred to has resulted in excess of 2.5 million dollars in damage and attendant re-work of the leach pad liner, pond ditching, as well as site accessibility and other damage. Builders-risk insurance is in place for the project and we have already received a significant partial payment for the repairs from the underwriter. We have been able to recover some of the storm-related delay by hiring additional crews to repair the damaged areas. Our contractors, VT Construction, Golder, SRK, and Jacobs and their suppliers have been invaluable in cooperating in this process. Midway has initiated some double shifting of the construction work force to make up some of the schedule to maintain a late 4th quarter first gold pour.
We experienced a second source of project delay due to complexities associated with more rigorous enforcement of the State of Nevada Fire Code than we had expected. We have put this learning curve behind us, and are once again proceeding with the construction effort to meet our milestones as outlined today.
The combination of these delays is not, at this time, expected to cause material cost overruns. We applaud our team for their efforts to regain some setbacks in schedule and minimize our financial losses. We expect the next few months to come with both challenges and successes. If we experience additional unseasonal weather or other factors outside of our control, there is a risk our first gold pour may not occur until early first quarter next year. However, we will continue to focus our efforts and conduct all reasonable activities to reach our planned objective, which is to achieve a gold pour in 2014.
About the Pan Project, Nevada
The Pan project is a low cost, oxidized, Carlin-style gold deposit mineable by shallow open pit methods and treatable by heap leaching. A Feasibility Study was completed in November 2011 (see press release dated November 15, 2011). Midway contracted with Ledcor in 2014 to provide all mining-related services including manpower and equipment. The partnership reduces the capital required for Pan construction and startup. The Company also plans to mine via run-of-mine methods in the initials years based on metallurgical work completed in 2013 (see September 17, 2013 press release), therefore eliminating the originally planned 2-stage crushing circuit in the first years of mining at Pan.
About Midway Gold Corp.
Midway is an emerging gold producer on track for production from its first project in late Q4 2014. Midway’s Pan Mine, will be a simple, open pit/heap leach operation with low projected capital costs and robust economics. Midway’s veteran management team has extensive experience finding, building, and operating mines in Nevada. Midway focuses on projects that are simple, manageable and financeable