Forest Hill grades confirmed, 20 year mine life envisioned

High ore grades averaging 0.48 oz gold per ton from the Forest Hill mine in Nova Scotia have been confirmed by Seabright Resources.

The good news comes after 17,700 tons of ore from the mine were processed in the company’s mill at Gay’s River, N.S., over the past three months. Recoveries were 96.5%.

The results put Seabright on firm ground for establishing a permanent, long-term mine at Forest Hill. Permanent facilities are now being built and a formal application to the Nova Scotia government will be made next month for a 20-year mining lease, President Terence Coughlan says.

Plans are also being made to increase the company’s milling capacity to 1,000 tons per day from the current 440-ton capacity.

Production schedules over the next five months at Forest Hill are to be accelerated to bring the mine up to a rate of 200 tons per day. The company has three other properties in the province slated for production: at Beaver Dam, Caribou and Moose River.

Although only 384,000 tons of proven and probable ore has been blocked out in six, steeply dipping, parallel vein systems between the 500-ft and 660-ft levels at Forest Hill, there is additional probable and possible tonnage in other ore blocks totalling 1.2 million tons. These include eight yet-to-be- explored vein systems and their extensions at depth and along strike.

Another entirely new gold zone, located half a mile from the mine, has been outlined. Seabright plans to take a 20,000-ton bulk sample of the material to establish grades that are estimated to be in the order of 0.38 oz gold per ton.