Cambior projecting output of 200,000 oz gold in ’88

Quebec-based Cambior Inc. (TSE), which produced about 142,000 oz gold during 1987, is projecting an output of 200,000 oz for this year and 1989, and more than 250,000 oz for 1990.

Cambior, with a 50% interest in the Doyon mine in northwestern Quebec, reported net income of $21.9 million (95 cents per share) for 1987 on revenues of $93.3 million. (There are no 12-month comparable figures for 1986, the year Cambior came into being.)

During 1987, Cambior, whose major shareholder is the Quebec Crown corporation Soquem, acquired two gold-producing companies, Aiguebelle Resources and Sullivan Mines, whose assets included the Eldrich-Flavel project and the Vezina mill and mine in the Rouyn-Noranda area of Quebec, a 34% interest in the A. W. White mine in the Red Lake area of northwestern Ontario, and a 25.9% interest in the Valdez Creek placer project in Alaska.

The Doyon Mine, operated by Lac Minerals (TSE), accounted for almost 87% of Cambior’s gold production last year. The mine is being converted from an open pit to underground operation; mill expansion there this year will increase capacity to 3,300 tons per day.

Cambior reports spending more than $14 million on exploration work during 1987, and boosted its total ore reserves to a gold equivalent of about 2.8 million oz.

The company expects to make production decisions this year for both the Eldrich-Flavel and Pascalis projects, and anticipates the Silidor and Mouska projects will reach the final evaluation phase in 1989.

Pleased with its acquisitions and exploration activities in 1987, Cambior says it plans to extend the company’s activities in mining areas outside Quebec.

The company calculates the operating cost for all of its producing gold mines averaged $272(C) per oz last year, not including depreciation and depletion.

In addition to its gold projects, Cambior is a 50% owner of the Niobec mine located near Chicoutimi, Que., the mine being the second largest producer of niobium in the world and North America’s only producing niobium mine.