The Siwash North deposit is expected to produce 25,000 oz. gold in 1994, more than double the 12,000 oz. Fairfield Minerals (TSE) plans to recover from this year’s test mining.
The bulk of these ounces will be produced from an open pit, with the balance from underground mining.
The junior owns the high-grade gold project, near Merritt, B.C. Underground test mining is under way on two levels, and widths up to 3 ft. were extracted, with less dilution than originally expected. Initial sampling returned values comparable to those from open-pit ore.
The underground program will continue until November and provide information to formulate a long-range mining plan.
Fairfield also reported that it had increased its near-surface reserve by 30% to 45,000 oz. from 35,000 oz., based on production of 20,000 oz. during the past two years. The project’s total geologic resource is estimated at 200,000 oz. gold, based on widely spaced diamond drilling.
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