Lac de Montigny, Que. —
Drilling from the 520 level is highlighted by 14 metres (true width) grading 20.89 grams gold per tonne (or 9.7 grams when gold is cut to 34.3 grams per tonne); another hole cut 17 metres (true width) grading 9.85 grams gold, and another, 8 metres (true width) grading 7.2 grams gold.
In addition, two of these holes hit a second zone, from 8-10 metres wide grading 3.8-4 grams gold per tonne. Two more holes cut 3-9.5 metres grading 4-5.5 grams gold.
All the holes were fanned from the same setup, with drill angles spaced at 20 (between 4 and 82).
Drilling focused on the VC zone, which has at least three en echelon lenses. The zone is open at depth.
Gold is associated with silicified and albitized breccias within mafic volcanic rock. Intermediate-to-felsic porphyry dykes cutting this basalt-komatiite sequence appear to have influenced gold enrichment.
In 2002, the Kiena mine was estimated to contain a measured and indicated resource of 3 million tonnes grading 4.25 grams gold per tonne. From 1982 to 2002, the Kiena mine produced 11 million tonnes grading 4.75 grams gold per tonne.
Wesdome bought the Kiena mine property at the end of 2003, and in so doing doubled the size of its local land package, which includes contiguous properties to the north and south. The acquisition included a 2,000-ton-per-day carbon-in-leach mill and permitted tailings facilities. The 269 claims and seven mining concessions that constitute the property host eight past-producing underground mines.
The Kiena mine has a 930-metre shaft. The Northern Miner descended to the 520-metre level, where Wesdome is developing a drift toward the Wesdome deposit and the VC and north zones.
Most of Kiena’s resource is in the 388, VC and Lower North zones. Wesdome plans to develop a series of satellite zones and gradually extend the main drift 4 km to the north, to gain access to the Wesdome deposits. Crews are also drilling for additional deposits along the length of the main drift.
At least seven holes have been drilled at 60-to-90-metre spacings along the primary drift. At the end of November 2004, assays from four of these were reported, the highlight being 2 metres grading 10 grams gold per tonne. Three other holes hit 1.4-4 grams gold over 3-12.5 metres.
Wire-mesh netting lines the drift where a drill is testing the VC zone. The core exhibits moderately intense quartz veining crosscutting mafic volcanic rock. The mine itself is dry and well-maintained with a large underground maintenance garage and machine and welding shops.
Wesdome and Shawkey
Significant gold resources have been delineated on the Wesdome and Shawkey properties (contiguous with the Kiena mine property).
The Wesdome “A” zone has an indicated resource of 145,000 tonnes grading 5.36 grams gold per tonne and an inferred resource of 615,000 tonnes grading 5.13 grams gold.
The Wesdome property is overlain by Lac de Montigny; however, in the mid-to-late 1990s, a shaft was collared and a hoist installed on an island. In addition, tailings facilities were permitted on the northern shore of the lake, and an access road was built. But work was curtailed because of the then-low price of gold.
The plan now is to drift to the “A” zone, confirm its resource, then raise a shaft so that waste material can be transported via the shaft while ore is trammed back to the Kiena shaft.
The “A” zone has been traced over a length of 900 metres, has a west-southwesterly trend and dips to the southwest (toward a large quartz diorite intrusion); the zone has an average thickness of 3.2 metres.
Gold and pyrite are associated with shear zones containing quartz veins. Albite, chlorite, muscovite and rutile are found locally in quartz veins, which crosscut mafic volcanic rocks and felsic dykes. Gold is found in pyrite; associated with, but on the margins of, other minor sulphides; and as free gold.
The known ore blocks are large, so Wesdome President Paul Cregheur envisions “very cheap mining [at] a fraction of the cost of narrow vein deposits.”
Drifting is under way on the 330-metre level to gain access to the Shawkey zone (about 2 km east-southeast of the Kiena mine shaft) and the 388 zone (north of the north zone). The Wisik and Martin zones will also be tested from this level.
There are 12 km of underground development on the Shawkey property, dating back to the 1930s, when Shawkey was a producing mine. All the development occurred above the 250-metre level. In 1991, Placer Dome estimated that Shawkey contained a mineral inventory (inferred resource) of 900,000 tonnes grading 4 grams gold per tonne.
The Shawkey “22” zone has been traced over a strike length of about 700 metres and to a depth of 300 metres. The zone is hosted by a quartz-tourmaline stockwork in a porphyry sill, which intruded komatiitic rock. Drifting is set to reach this zone by mid-year.
Wesdome has about 60 people working at Kiena, 35 of them working underground. Several employees have been working here for years. The Miner spoke with the shift boss and a geological technician, both of whom have worked in this mine for more than 15 years under previous owners. They seem to know the mine like the back of their hands and are enthusiastic about production.
“Val d’Or is the best place in North America to operate,” Murray Pollitt, a director of Wesdome, stated, stressing that both the government and the steelworkers’ union have been supportive. “The town wants the jobs,” he says. “It’s a mining town, and they know the peripheral benefits of mining.” Costs are lower, in part, because experienced employees live nearby.
The cost of bringing the mine into production at the daily rate of 1,100 tonnes is estimated to be $15 million. A production decision is expected in June, with startup to follow sometime before year-end.
Other exploration
About 20 km north of Val d’Or is Wesdome’s McKenzie Break property. The company has just completed a 4.7-km access road, off Hwy. 397, into the area. The property straddles Fiedmont and Courville twps. Most of the resource is hosted by two lenses; an indicated resource of 186,000 tonnes grading 10 grams gold per tonne exists at shallow depths.
Wesdome, which is a 51%-owned subsidiary of
Wesdome has 38 million shares issued and outstanding (43.5 million on a fully diluted basis) and recently traded in the range of $1.80-2.
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