Making SJ a Super Pit MineA super pit mine is one in which various adjacent Underground deposits are consolidated within the Open Pit mining method.
Mining of both open pit and underground are then conducted within an expanding open pit both laterally and at depth by blasting through the floors and walls of the pit.
A good example of a superpit mine is Flinston in AUST (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Pit_gold_mine ).
Super pits are very productive and cost effective to mine the deeper lodes of ore which tend to be higher grade.
It is worth noting that the SJ underground mine ( SJ North ) is actually a continuation of the current open pit.
It is barely explored with less than 20 holes .
Shallow grades are identical to those mined within the open pit and the deeper grades are at 2.56 gms/ton and higher.
SJ North covers 4.14 sq meters of surface area , which @ 2ounces /sq m has potential to contain another 8 million ounces of gold.
Outside SJ North and the SJ open pit there are only a few drill holes but these indicate that the auriferous ore within the pit and within SJ North continue out side these areas.
This creates an ideal scenario for SJ to become a Super pit producer which would have a mine life measured in multiple decades ........