Higher head grades have prompted
The mine, which re-entered commercial production on Jan. 1, is now expected to crank out more than 300,000 oz. by year-end — a 25% jump over feasibility predictions. Six-hundred tons of ore are now being processed daily.
An estimated 18,485 tons averaging 2.09 oz. per ton were sent through the mill between Dec. 11, 2000, and Jan. 10, 2001. The head grade is 14% higher than that obtained (1.57 oz.) during the commissioning stage and 53% higher than the average for the mine’s reserves.
Between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31, Red Lake produced 85,116 oz. gold from 74,148 tons of ore. Another 15,994 oz. were still in the circuit when the year ended, and the average recovery rate has been 87%.
Over the next two years, Goldcorp plans to boost production to 800 tons per day. A further increase to about 1,000 tons of high-grade material is anticipated, provided sufficient reserves are outlined.
Reserves in the High Grade zone are pegged at 1.4 million tons grading 1.37 oz. gold per ton., sufficent for 6.5 years of production at current milling rates. However, the company is revising the estimate to reflect a gold price of $275 per oz., instead of US$300.
Cash costs at the mine are estimated at US$88 per oz.; total after-tax costs, at US$213 per oz.
In addition to High Grade, Red Lake hosts 1.4 million tons of refractory sulphide material grading 0.36 oz. gold per ton. Such material kept the mine running continuously for 48 years prior to a strike in 1996, which was resolved only recently (T.N.M., Aug. 14-20/00).
Goldcorp recently raised $4.6 million in a flow-through financing. Proceeds are earmarked for follow-up studies at nine gold and platinum-palladium targets discovered outside the mine property.
In Saskatchewan, Goldcorp has closed one of its two industrial minerals plants. A writedown will appear in fourth-quarter financials, which are scheduled for release in late February.
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