Golden Reward expects gold output in September

The first gold dore bar from this project, a few miles south of this renowned mining town, should be poured in late September. And according to Coin Lake director Chris Von Hessert, the joint venturers deserve every ounce of it and more.

“It’s been a long haul,” he told The Northern Miner. “We fought off environmental groups and a lawsuit to finally come to this point.”

Before the project even got off the ground, a negative vote on either of two separate referendums by residents in the area would have seriously affected the viability of the project. However, voters apparently decided the economic benefits outweighed the need for more stringent environmental controls. To prove its commitment to a clean environment, Golden Reward bought an equity interest in a nearby ski hill and pumped money into a new chalet and computerized snow-making equipment: facilities that depend on a clean environment.

The lawsuit, launched by St. Joe Minerals, contested ownership. It was finally settled out of court.

The Golden Reward project hosts proven and probable mineable reserves of 13.3 million tons grading an average 0.041 oz gold per ton with a strip ratio of 2.1:1. “From an exploration standpoint, we think we have a very good chance of increasing the mineable reserve to 20 million tons,” said chief geologist Karl Emanuel.

Two main pit areas — the West Mine, which runs 2,500 ft along strike, and the East Mine, with a 4,000-ft-long strike — will provide ore.

Blasting is a delicate piece of business. The mine is about a quarter of a mile from residences that dot this part of the Black Hills. Golden Reward detonates no more than two holes at a time to reduce vibration. Millisecond delays separate the shots. To cut noise levels, chief mine engineer John Gould is using a “silent” detonating chord with a thinner than usual powder column to transfer the charge to cast primers down the hole. He also plans to bury surface delays under sand. The drawback here is that occasional line breaks may occur.

The ore itself is virtually all oxide and “about as clean as you’ll get,” according to Robert Polak, manager of metallurgy. Some agglomeration (on average 5 lb of cement per ton of ore) and pre-cyanidation will be done after crushing run-of- mine to a nominal — 1/2 inch. Lime is not required. A 3-stage, open- circuit crushing system has been built.

Pad loading and off-loading will be accomplished by a sophisticated stacker and reclaimer system of the type that might be found at coal ports. The two pads are rectangular, 1,800 ft long and 182 ft wide, with a 3.3% slope to the east. They are each divided into 12 cells and the two pads are separated by a ditch.

The stacker and the reclaimer (two separate pieces of equipment) are track-mounted, with a reach that extends across the width of a pad. While the stacker places ore as it crawls the length of a pad, the reclaimer off-loads the de-toxified, neutralized spent ore.

The system should garner attention within the heap leach fraternity, but it is not revolutionary by any means. In fact, it is almost commonplace in bulk materials handling applications. The stacker and the reclaimer have been deliberately over-designed to handle 850- 900 tons per hour. In operation, they will probably operate at 625 tons per hour.

The leach cycle will run seven weeks, according to projections based on extensive metallurgical testing. The wash, neutralization and detoxification cycle should run three weeks. Recoveries are expected to be 70%. The pad lining of compacted clay, polyvinylchloride sheeting, a geotextile felt mat and asphalt must rank as a Cadillac.

The average silver-to-gold ratio of 5:1 and extreme instances where the ore runs 15:1 forced Golden Reward to opt for a Merrill-Crowe plant. The plant is highly computerized with both the crushing system and mill controlled by programmable logic controllers from Allen Bradley.

At full capacity, the mill should be producing 60,000 oz gold. Cash costs are projected at $204(US) per oz of gold produced.

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