Maritime Resources updates Hammerdown Gold Project, Newfoundland
Maritime Resources Corp. [TSXV: MAE; OTC Pink: MRTMF] provided an update for the Hammerdown Gold Project, located in the Baie Verte mining district of Newfoundland and Labrador, near the towns of King’s Point and Springdale, including its Pine Cove milling facility located near the town of Baie Verte.
Garett Macdonald, President and CEO, stated, “Maritime has hit the ground running in 2025 with the start of mineral processing operations at our Pine Cove mill and initial gold production from the existing mineralized stockpiles. The recent $20 million equity financing has set the stage for development and cash flow during 2025, at a time of record high gold prices.
“During 2025, we have advanced the fully permitted Hammerdown Gold Project by completing a grade control drill program over the first year of proposed open pit mining with very positive results. At the Pine Cove Mill, the operations and maintenance teams have done a tremendous job returning the mill to operations. Over the coming months, investments are expected to be made in Pine Cove’s material handling system and grinding circuit to ensure the safe and efficient processing of Hammerdown feed in the coming months.
“Maritime is fortunate to have a robust asset base of development and exploration projects and mineral processing assets in Newfoundland and Labrador, a top tier jurisdiction for mineral production. Ultimately this supports low-risk sustainable growth and long-term value for shareholders.”
After two years of care and maintenance, the Pine Cove mill is being re-commissioned with the processing of low-grade mineralized stockpile material collected from several sources around the Point Rousse Project, including historic ore pads at the former Stog’er Tight and Argyle open pit mines, existing mill stockpiles and tailings material excavated from TSF2.
Since the end of February, over 45,000 tonnes of low-grade stockpile feed has been processed, refilling the completely cleaned and emptied process circuit and recovering over 350 ounces of contained gold in doré from the first pour in the refinery. Re-commissioning has reached the stage where mill crews are focused on improving plant reliability and optimization over the next few months in preparation for feed from Hammerdown.
To support the optimization of the mill for Hammerdown feed, the company has purchased a complete regrind mill equipment package, including 2 x Metso 185 kilowatt (kW) SMD regrind mills, to replace the existing 112 kW regrind mill that is nearing the end of its useful life.
This equipment will provide the necessary power to achieve the fine grinding sizes necessary for Hammerdown feed, achieving the high leaching recoveries while also enabling additional capacity for any future expansion. Installation is expected by mid summer 2025. An investment into the mill’s material handling system is planned to ensure safe and efficient storage and transfer of -12mm crushed feed received from Hammerdown into the Pine Cove grinding circuit. The Pine Cove in-pit tailings storage facility contains over 3.5 million cubic meters of total capacity, more than three times enough capacity to store the mineral reserves at Hammerdown.
At the Hammerdown Gold Project, several de-risking programs have been completed in preparation for mine development, including 8,460 metres of grade control drilling with 273 new diamond drill holes drilled on a 10 m x 10 m staggered pattern in the shallow high grade core of the deposit. The program was successful in identifying the high grade vein system and confirming the location of historic underground mine workings.
Notable intercepts included 41.6 g/t gold over 6.3 metres in drill hole HDGC-24-038; 12.0 g/t gold over 28.0 metres in drill hole HDGC-25-122; 19.9 g/t gold over 17.0 metres in drill hole HDGC-25-124; 5.5 g/t gold over 29.8 metres in drill hole HDGC-25-17.
The Hammerdown closure and development plan, approved by the Province, permits for 700 tonnes of ore per day to be shipped offsite for mineral processing. Hammerdown’s current Proven and Probable mineral reserves stand at 1.9 million tonnes grading 4.46 g/t gold for 272,000 ounces of gold contained.
Metallurgical testing of Hammerdown mineralization through the Pine Cove mill circuit has been completed at BaseMet Labs in Kamloops, British Columbia, under the guidance of Canenco Consulting. Overall gold recoveries of 93-95% were achieved on a series of representative Hammerdown composites using a 75-micron primary grind, flotation of sulphide material with a 10-15% mass pull followed by regrinding of the flotation concentrate to 15-30 microns prior to leaching and the production of gold doré through the Merrill Crowe circuit.
Construction planned for the Hammerdown mine site include stripping of the organic and overburden materials within the open pit footprint; water management system including a lined settling pond; open pit mine pre-stripping; widening of existing roads; and installation of a three stage crushing plant; a 500 m x 15 kilovolt (kV) power line extension from the existing Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro grid and site wide communications.
With major project permitting completed, the remaining provincial Certificate of Approval for Construction and Operation is anticipated to be received early June, marking the final approval to begin site development. The approval of the Pine Cove Development Plan and Closure Plan will be required to begin processing Hammerdown feed and is anticipated to be received in June. Mineralized stockpiles are planned to be processed at the Pine Cove mill until mid-2025. Hammerdown production is expected to ramp up over the second half of 2025 as the open pit mine is developed.
Since the 2022 feasibility study, Maritime has realized opportunities to de-risk, reduce capital project startup cost, and accelerate cashflow through closing the acquisition of the Point Rousse project for C$4 million; refurbishing and restarting mineral processing operations the Pine Cove mill with existing mineralized stockpile feed in Q1 2025; completing 8,460 m of additional drilling in Q1 2025 with 273 new diamond drill holes on a close spaced 10 m x 10 m grade control program within the core of the Hammerdown deposit; completion of all major project permitting at Hammerdown; purchasing of a 500 hp regrind mill package to replace the existing 150 hp mill at Pine Cove in Q1 2025; deferral of ore sorting from initial project development; completion of metallurgical test work on the Pine Cove mill flowsheet, confirming recoveries and reagent consumption; as well as the increased price of gold, rising more than 80% since 2022 to over US$3,300/oz.
An updated technical report will be prepared in the second half of 2025 to capture these important project enhancements.
Maritime has signed a community agreement with the Town of King’s Point to support local employment and business opportunities, infrastructure and emergency services. King’s Point is located 5 km) from the Hammerdown Gold Project site with a population of 650 residents.
Long Term Vision — Exploration Upside: Maritime has growth potential throughout the Baie Verte mining district with a 439 km2 land package covering several major fault structures with orogenic gold and copper-gold VMS prospects. Near mine, drill ready exploration targets exist adjacent to the Hammerdown deposit including the Orion Gold Zone with 26.2 gpt Au over 4.0 metres in drill hole BB-20-116; 4.8 g/t gold over 13.6 metres, including 7.0 g/t gold over 8.1 metres in drill hole BB-21-133; Area 22 Zone: 4.5 g/t gold over 2.85 metres, including 37.2 g/t gold over 0.3 metres in drill hole MP-22-227; 0.76 g/t gold over 30.2 metres, including 1.74 g/t gold over 8.9 metres in drill hole DC-22-02.
Golden Anchor, Lochinvar VMS Zone: 12.9 g/t gold over 6.0 metres in GA-20-35 Golden Anchor; 548.0 g/t silver equivalent over 11.6 metres in GA-20-25 Lochinvar.
Hammerdown West: An unexplored area immediately west of Hammerdown, adjacent to the large Green Bay Fault, with a 1 km long geophysical magnetic low signature similar to Hammerdown.
Halfway between Hammerdown and the Pine Cove mill, the Whisker Valley and El Strato gold prospects offer further exploration upside with an extensive area of gold and copper mineralization that has not been explored since 2020. The El Strato project, specifically, is one of the largest high-grade gold in soils and bedrock anomalies in the province, covering an area of 1 x 3 km. Lastly, the exploration potential at the Point Rousse project remains wide open with the advanced stage Stog’er Tight gold project, the Deer Cove gold zone and the potential extension of the Pine Cove gold zone below the former open pit mine.
Maritime’s two gold processing assets, Pine Cove and Nugget Pond, provide the foundation for a dual hub and spoke business model in the district. The replacement value of the infrastructure is estimated to be over $150 million and would require several years of engineering and permitting. Maritime’s long term vision is to utilize both gold plants targeting annual gold production of over 100,000 ounces from its pipeline of projects and potential feed from third parties.
Maritime is advancing the Hammerdown Gold Project in the Baie Verte District of Newfoundland and Labrador. Maritime holds a 100% interest directly and subject to option agreements entitling it to earn 100% ownership in the Green Bay Property which includes the former Hammerdown gold mine and the Orion gold project. Maritime controls over 439 km2 of exploration land including the Green Bay, Whisker Valley, Gull Ridge and Point Rousse projects. Mineral processing assets owned by Maritime in the Baie Verte mining district include the Pine Cove mill and the Nugget Pond gold circuit.