Tundra Gold Mines (VSE) has acquired an option to purchase the 50% interest in the Lamaque gold mine property held by Teck Corp. (TSE). Lamaque, which shutdown in 1985 after 50 years of production, is near Val d’Or, Que.
The cost of the acquisition is $8 million of which $3 million would be paid on closing and the remainder paid out in $1-million yearly increments.
Tundra, which already holds a 50% stake in the property after spending $9 million on exploration, will be required to sink a 1,000-ft shaft once it’s option is exercised. Shaft sinking will have to begin before the end of 1989. The option terminates on Sept 30, 1989.
The company also plans to fund a 12,200-ft drill program which will in-fill sections in the No 4 plug — the main exploration target on the large property. An additional 2,500-ft to 6,500-ft drill program will also test for extensions of the North shear zone, Tundra says.
Tundra and many of its shareholders initially hoped for a start-up of operations in early 1988.
Additional funding of at least $4.5 million will be required to refurbish one 600-ton-per-day unit of the shutdown mill, which has a capacity for 1,800 tons per day. Comprised of three 600-ton-per-day units, one unit of the mill requires a reserve threshold of at least one million tons to justify opening, Teck has said in the past. In 1988, Teck staff said that a 6-month period would be required to rehabilitate sections of the mill (N.M., Aug 24/88).
Based on calculations completed by Tundra, reserves on the property total 1.2 million tons grading 0.17 oz gold per ton.
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