Vancouver — AMEC has been hired to study the feasibility of mining the Meadowbank gold deposit in Nunavut. Situated 70 km north of Baker Lake, the property is owned by
The study, scheduled for completion in late 2003, will provide a mine model with projections for capital and operating costs.
A preliminary assessment in January 2002 indicated the project could support a production rate of approximately 250,000 oz. per year at an estimated cash cost of US$168 per oz. over an 8-year mine life. About 85% of Meadowbank’s gold would be mined by open-pit methods.
“Meadowbank enters the feasibility process with the advantage of large, well-defined resources and a reserve base sufficient for four years of production at the current planned production rate,” says Kerry Curtis, Cumberland’s chief executive officer. “The study should benefit from the enhanced resource definition and additional gold deposits outlined in 2002 program.”
AMEC has provided engineering, procurement, construction and management services to numerous remote mines in northern Canada, including Ekati in the Northwest Territories and Teck Cominco’s Red Dog in Alaska, the world’s largest zinc mine.
Meadowbank hosts five closely spaced, near-surface gold deposits totalling 7.8 million tonnes grading 5.79 grams gold, or 1.4 million ounces of contained gold, in the measured and indicated category. The inferred resources consists of 10.9 million tonnes grading 4.44 grams gold, or 1.6 million contained ounces.
Proven and probable reserves are pegged at 5.5 million tonnes averaging 5.44 grams gold, or 963,000 oz.
In 2001, Cumberland drilled 150 holes, or about 16,000 metres, and defined a new gold deposit. New resource estimates for Meadowbank are expected in the first quarter of 2003.
Cumberland is well-financed with approximately $19.2 million in its treasury. In addition to Meadowbank, the company has a 22% carried interest in the Meliadine West gold deposit, also in Nunavut.
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