Malartic Hygrade looking to boost gold production

Aiming to increase its annual gold production to the 100,000-oz level, Malartic Hygrade Gold Mines (Canada) (VSE) is looking to acquire mines at or near production, says President Marc Henderson.

Henderson, 28, vice-president for the past three years, replaced Jack Belton at the top spot. Belton, retiring after 12 years of service, will remain a director.

Malartic Hygrade, which produced about 18,600 oz gold in 1987, reported an increase last year of 75% in mine operating profits and 21% in cash flow, and a decrease in cash operating costs.

Earnings in 1987, after an extraordinary item, were $3.6 million (99 cents per share) on revenues of $6.9 million compared with $1.9 million (54 cents per share) on revenues of $6.9 million the year before. The jump in earnings is attributed mainly to a provincial mining duties refund of $1.6 million.

During the first quarter of this year, Malartic Hygrade recorded net income of $151,350 (4 cents per share) on revenues of $1.4 million, compared with $447,663 (12 cents per share) on revenues of $1.7 million for the same period

The company’s Orion property in northwestern Quebec suppports two producing mines, the Orion and Malartic/Barrick. The wholly- owned Orion was placed in production during the first quarter of this year. Ore from the Orion mine is processed at the Camflo mill which is located less than a mile from the Orion shaft. Mine access

Access to the Orion mine is via a 450-ft shaft centrally located on the property. A 2,200-ft drift at the 400-ft level was driven from the shaft to the ore deposit. The company hopes to boost an initial production rate of 200 tons per day to 300 tons per day by 1989.

The Malartic/Barrick mine is an extension of the Camflo mine owned by American Barrick Resources. Barrick mines and mills the Malartic ore in return for 40% of the neighboring mine’s operating profits.

The Camflo orebody extends onto the Orion property beginning below the 2,100-ft level. Mining at the end of 1987 was basically taking place at the 3,150-ft and 3,650-ft levels at the Malartic mine. Underground exploration there continues. The Camflo mine went into production in 1965. Malartic also has interests in the Pinto/Malartic property lying adjacent to the Orion property, and the Panache project in Capriquet and Urban twps.

The company also manages the exploration programs of Minefinders Corp. (VSE), which is active on a number of properties, including Dubuisson East in northwestern Quebec. A hole drilled to 500 ft (vertical) during the 1987-88 program returned 0.17 oz gold per ton over 25 ft and 0.64 oz over 3 ft in two parallel zones.