N.W.T. gold production could leap to 580,000 oz

Two years from now, gold production from the Northwest Territories could be 50% higher than the 379,706 oz poured in 1987.

The sudden increase hinges on plans by Neptune Resources Corp. (TSE) to build a 200,000-oz-per-year open pit producer north of Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Gold from the Northwest Territories in 1987 came from three underground mines.

Neptune, a Toronto-based company, plans to turn over the largest gold milling operation in the country next summer. It will be designed to process a total 10,000 tons of ore per day from the company’s Zone 2 orebody at Baton Lake, 135 miles northwest of Yellowknife.

The zone, one of three identified on the property so far, contains 16 million tons of 0.064-oz-per-ton material. As a bonus, the deposit is close enough to surface to allow Neptune to mine it over a period of 4 1/2 to five years using low-cost open pit mining methods.

Originally, Neptune touted the idea of leaching the ore with dilute sodium cyanide in huge outdoor vats (N.M., Dec 14/87), but has now decided to use conventional, crushing/grinding/cyanide/carbon-in-pulp milling technology.

“We received two feasibility studies, both from Wright Engineers, on the two methods,” Neptune’s Executive Assistant B.A. Bartlett tells The Northern Miner, “and both were positive.” Capital costs for using vat leaching was $80 million with gold recoveries of about 80% and the corresponding figures using conventional milling were $121 million and 95%.

The higher recoveries and a shorter payback period of conventional milling resulted in the decision to trash the vat leaching option.

According to the latest drill results from Zone 3, which is located about 2,000 ft south of the proposed Zone 2 pit, the company is optimistic this quartz feldspar porphyry-hosted deposit too will become mineable in the near future.

Neptune has arranged flowthrough financing from four limited partnerships for a total of $2.3 million. .N4

** Editorial **

** Company names can be a problem **

What’s in a mining company name? Sometimes, a little confusion. Confusion for investors, confusion for the companies themselves, and confusion, too, at times, for the media reporting on them.

There are thousands of companies listed nowadays in Canada’s mining industry, so it’s perhaps not too surprising that the names of a number of them are disturbingly similar to — if not exactly the same as — those of other mining companies. To give some examples: There are North American Metals Corp. (listed on the VSE), and North American Rare Metals (ME). There are Fairfield Explorations (ME), and Fairfield Minerals (VSE). Golden Hope Mines (COATS), is uncomfortably close to Golden Hope Resources (VSE). Golden Star Resources (TSE) could likely be readily confused with Gold Star Resources (VSE), and Golden Rock Explorations (ME) and Golden Rock Resources (VSE) are in the same kind of near-identity situation.

The name “Golden” in fact occurs as the starter in the full names of close to 30 mining companies listed in the Canadian Mines Handbook. While it’s an understandable temptation to use such a beautifully descriptive and arresting word in gold company nomenclature, right now it appears decidedly overworked. The same might be said for “Consolidated,” and “International,” which begin the names of several dozen Canadian mining companies.

In cases like some of those above, of course, one of the companies could conceivably change its name to avoid the possibility of continuing confusion with the other. That should be considered. But most importantly, when new companies are being formed, a lot of care should be taken (after first doing the mandatory search of existing company names in Canada), to see that the new name is not only not a duplicate or near-duplicate of another, but that it be as distinctive and different as possible. That, among other things, should be a definite obligation of the company’s promoter. As one company president said who has recently been through the naming process, it’s not an easy job finding an appropriate and different name for a resource company. But it’s also not impossible, and can be done without tripping over other companies’ names in the process.