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Rubicon on track for Red Lake mine startup

Rubicon Minerals reports it’s on schedule to finish construction and start production at its Phoenix Gold underground mine in Red Lake by mid-2015.
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Rubicon Minerals reports it’s on schedule to finish construction and start production at its Phoenix Gold underground mine in Red Lake by mid-2015.

Rubicon Minerals reports it’s on schedule to finish construction and start production at its Phoenix Gold underground mine in Red Lake by mid-2015.

With $42 million of spending to go on underground work, the company said it has completed 875 metres of a planned 8,023 metres of development at the 685-metre level. The development of a main ventilation pilot raise from the 305-metre level to surface will be finished by the end of June.

Contractors are currently carrying out all the underground work, but Rubicon is out procuring equipment and hiring staff to replace them.

Mill construction recommenced in early April and all the civil work inside is 81 per cent complete.

With $71.5 million of mill capital spending remaining to completion, mill construction is on schedule for completion and commissioning by mid-2015.

Company president-CEO Michael Lalonde likes what he sees so far.

"We are pleased with the progress of the construction and de-risking of the Phoenix Gold Project. The project is tracking to schedule and budget compared to the targets we had set earlier this year. We will continue to closely monitor our activities and associated capital costs as the project progresses toward the projected operating phase in mid-2015."

Rubicon is also defending itself against a legal challenge by the nearby Waubaskang First Nation over the mine closure plan. The case was heard in an Ontario Divisional Court, April 15-17. A date for a decision was not provided. The company said the application has not impact development activities at the site.