Newhawk resumes Sulphurets work

Exploration work has resumed at Newhawk Gold Mines’ Sulphurets project north of Stewart, B.C. The company has a 60% interest in the property and Granduc Mines 40%

Newhawk President Donald A. McLeod expects the current program to be completed by June 30 when “a firm production decision will be imminent.” Last year’s program included 35,000 ft of surface diamond drilling in the West, Shore and Gossan Hill zones.

The West zone decline has been completed and now totals 1,690 ft. Another 900 ft of exploration drifting and 150 ft of raising were also completed. Assay results from the 5,100 drift included 0.31 oz gold and 25.6 oz silver over a width of 8.9 ft and a distance of 141 ft. Muck assays from the 511 raise averaged 0.84 oz gold and 81 oz silver for a distance of 52.5 ft across a width of 5.9 ft. Slashing will be required to define the actual limits of the ore in the raise.

A 15,000-ft underground diamond drilling program is scheduled to begin immediately in the West zone; this is a continuation of the $5-million program started last year. The decline has been extended another 50 m to the 1,300 elevation which will allow detailed drilling downdip in the zone.

“This will give us a lot of confidence in the reserves,” says Fred Hewett, Newhawk’s vice-president exploration, who adds: “The intent of this program right now is to really firm up the West zone to a higher confidence level which should give us enough data to do a feasibility study and then commit to production.”

Silver is important to the project and its value is nearly equivalent to the gold, Hewett confirms. There are two principal silver minerals: pyargyrite and proustite. (The former is dark ruby silver and the latter is the lighter variety.) Extensive metallurgical work has been done on these silver minerals and he says “they behave pretty well.” Silver concentrate will be sent out by road but some of it will come out in dore form because it occurs with gold as electrum, a natural alloy.

Road access is currently in the permitting stage and the company hopes to begin work this spring, possibly in April. The section down Bowser Valley is pretty straightforward and is common to any route the government would approve, says Hewett. There are three alternates at the other end of the lake which are being discussed with the government, however. “We want to work very hard to get that route in this summer,” he explains.

McLeod confirms that a hydro power study has been completed which shows that the outflow from Brucejack Lake can be harnessed year-round to provide 1.5-2.5 megawatts of power. This would be sufficient for a 400-500-ton mine and mill and represent a major saving over diesel generators. Capital costs for the facility are expected to be under $2 million and payback less than two years.