Construction resumes at Komis

Junior Golden Rule Resources (GNU-T) is back preparing its Komis gold project, in the La Ronge area of Saskatchewan, for production.

Preproduction work entails stope development, road construction and refurbishing of the nearby Jolu mill, a former producer that will process ore from Komis Lake.

Based on a feasibility study by Kilborn Engineering a year ago, Komis hosts proven and probable reserves estimated at 757,000 tons grading 0.3 oz. gold per ton, cut and diluted. Possible reserves amount to 632,000 tons at 0.39 oz.

Once up and running, the mine is expected to turn out 44,000 oz. gold annually at a cash operating cost of US$248 per oz. Preproduction capital of $10 million is required to reconstruct and activate the mill.

To ensure a sufficient quantity of millfeed to sustain an initial production rate of 440 tons per day, the stopes of the C and Y zones (from the 400- to the 300-metre level) will be developed first, followed by development of the A and D zones.

With surface facilities already in place, other development work, including a ventilation raise and a haulage drift, is under way.

Work at the Jolu mill consists of preparing the crushing, grinding, gravity and cyanide-leach circuits and the tailings disposal site. The Jolu mine is being dewatered in preparation to receive tailings.

Construction of the access road from Komis to Highway 102, a distance of 17 km, is in full swing, and ore haulage from Komis to Jolu is to begin in late June. Full production at Komis is expected near the end of the third quarter.

In the meantime, underground work has exposed two new gold zones (Q and W) in the unexplored footwall of the deposit. A crosscut and raise opening was driven in the Q zone, which resulted in stockpiled ore grading between 0.25 and 0.44 oz. gold per ton. More exploration and sampling are planned to test those zones.

Golden Rule has numerous other gold projects in Saskatchewan, as well as exploration projects in Mexico and elsewhere.