Mark V remains confident of getting mine permits

Mark V Petroleums and Mines (TSE) of Vancouver says it is receiving positive signals from the U.S. Forest Service with regard to bringing its Bagdad gold project into production.

Nothing has been received in writing yet, but Mark V is expecting to receive permits for a full operation in the spring of 1989, said President Leslie Hart who is still awaiting the results of an environmental impact report.

While Mark V is still in the tune- up phase at the Philipsburg, Mont., milling facility, Hart expects to bring the operation into production almost as soon as he receives the permits.

“I’m expecting to be in production by May 1989,” Hart told The Northern Miner recently.

With reserves standing at 278,841 tons of grade 0.6 oz gold per ton (when a production decision was announced), the project is expected to produce about 50,000 oz gold and 184,000 oz silver during its first year in production.

However, the company is still conducting exploration at the property in a bid to determine which of the known zones should be used for mill testing. According to a report by project geologist Wayne Peterson, samples have been taken from the walls of the Number 1 raise and exposed veins on the west side of the raise. They assayed at 2.65 oz gold, 3.70 oz and 3.75 oz, he said.

As sampling continues, Mark V is developing a new access and haulage road from the Bagdad portal to another portal located about 460 ft higher up. While working on the road, crews uncovered two new veins approximately 2 miles southeast of known vein occurrences.

The company said it is planning to drill a series of holes from the new road on the South Bagdad vein near the China Wall vein and on other veins uncovered during road construction.

Negotiations are currently under way for additional funding to take the Bagdad mine into a sustained production mode, once the operating permit is in place.