Pure Gold pours first bullion at Red Lake mine
Pure Gold Mining Inc. [PGM-TSXV; LRTNF-OTC; PUR-LSE] on Wednesday December 30 reached a key milestone by announcing the first gold pour at its flagship mine in northwestern Ontario.
“The first pour occurred on December 29, 2020, following the introduction of ore to the mill on December 15, 2020,” the company said in a press release.
“Today the Pure Gold Mine has come to life. With our first gold pour, we have transitioned to producer, and delivered on our promise to build Canada’s newest gold mine in the heart of Red Lake, Ontario, on budget and on schedule,” said Pure Gold President and CEO Darin Labrenz.
Pure Gold shares were unchanged Wednesday at $2.64 on volume of 321,931, and currently trade in a 52-week range of $3.08 and 38 cents.
This week’s gold pour marks the return to life of the former Madsen mine in the Red Lake area, an established mining district with more than 29 million ounces of high-grade gold production to date.
Madsen produced 2.5 million ounces between 1938 and 1976. The project benefits from existing infrastructure, including a mill and tailings facility, paved highway access, and access to power, water and experienced labour.
In February, 2019, Pure Gold announced an updated mineral resource estimate. This resulted in an 18% increase in the indicated resource to 2,063,000 ounces gold at 8.9 g/t gold (in 7.2 million tonnes) and a 58% increase in the inferred resource of 467,000 ounces gold (in 1.9 million tonnes) at 7.7 g/t gold (in 0.59 million tonnes) at a cut-off grade of 4.0 g/t gold.
A feasibility study that was also released in February 2019 that envisaged a 12.2-year mine life based on 1.0 million ounces of probable gold reserves. The feasibility study also forsees peak annual production of 125,000 ounces, with average production in years 3-7 reaching 102,000 ounces annually.
The initial capital requirement is estimated at $95 million.
In 2019, Pure Gold reopened and reconditioned the Madsen underground ramp, installing new ground support, water line, mine air heating and ventilation, power line construction and commissioning and communications infrastructure.
With the commencement of production, activities at site are now concentrated on optimizing the operation, with commercial production anticipated by the end of the first quarter of 2021, at which time the company will be providing guidance.