Golden Predator gets OK to restart Yukon gold mine

Golden Predator Mining Corp. [GPY-TSXV; NTGSF-OTCQX] has received the approval from the Yukon government to proceed with the restart of its Brewery Creek gold mine without having to re-enter the permitting process. However, the company has not said when production will actually resume.

Golden Predator said the Yukon Government has confirmed the validity of the existing quartz mining and water licenses for the Brewery Creek Mine, which was put into temporary closure in 2002 following a collapse in the price of gold below US$300 an ounce.

The company said it is authorized to restart mining activities that follow the previously assessed mine plans without further assessment and review. In addition, the company said it has received Indigenous community backing from the Tr’ondek Hwech’in, which has passed a formal Council Resolution in support of resumed mining and processing at the Brewery Creek Mine under existing licenses.

Golden Predator shares were unchanged at 34 cents on Wednesday and trade in a 52-week range of 17.5 cents and 45.5 cents.

Brewery Creek is one of two key assets in the Golden Predator portfolio. The other is the 3 Aces gold project, also located in the Yukon Territory. The 3 Aces property hosts an orogenic gold project and is located northeast of Watson Lake.

The company made an early decision to bulk sample at its 3 Aces Project when it realized that much of the gold contained in its veins is high-grade and nuggety. The ‘nugget effect’ occurs when the gold is not distributed evenly throughout the deposit but rather is accumulated in clumps within the veins with visible gold often sitting loosely in open spaces and along fractures.

To eliminate the cost of shipping bulk sample materials outside of Yukon, and to effectively manage the processing costs, Golden Predator built its own closed system processing plant.

Brewery Creek is a former open pit, heap leach mine located 45 km from Dawson City. From 1996 to 2002, approximately 280,000 ounces of gold was produced from seven near-surface oxide deposits along the property’s reserve trend.

The mine is situated on a property that covers 186 km² and was operated by a company previously known as Viceroy Resource Corp.

Brewery Creek contains an indicated oxide resource of 577,000 ounces of gold in 14.2 million tonnes of average grade 1.27 g/t gold. On top of that is an inferred resource of 279,000 ounces of gold in 9.3 million tonnes of average grade 0.93 g/t (including resource areas located within and outside of production licenses).

In addition, the Brewery Creek property hosts and indicated sulfide resource of 546,000 ounces of gold in 12.4 million tonnes of 1.37 g/t. As historic drilling was terminated a short depth below the oxide mineralization, the company believes the sulfide potential remains largely untested.

“To sum up, Brewery Creek already has a sizeable open pit oxide resource of superior grade and the potential for making significant near surface additions at a very low cost,” said Golden Predator CEO Janet Lee-Sheriff.

This summer, the company will accelerate its exploration and development drilling across the property as many targets remain open or untested.