Timmins mine builder Gowest Gold is placing development on hold at its Bradshaw gold mine project.
The Toronto company issued a news release that the project is temporarily moving into a care and maintenance state in order to preserve cash.
This phase will last until a nearby custom milling operation, Northern Sun, completes construction of a tailing ponds by next summer. That’s when the mill be ready to process Bradshaw ore.
The Bradshaw Project is 32 kilometres northeast of the city.
In the release, Gowest said Northern Sun began drilling and blasting construction rock last week. Construction starts in January and will done by July.
On Bradshaw, Gowest said “a great deal of progress” has been made since development resumed last April.
The company mentioned how underground work has advanced in the East Zone and the Central Zone. A recently installed main fan and heater on the surface will be operational this month. Instead of using diesel to power this infrastructure, Gowest is switching to compressed natural gas, which is a money saver.
Exploration drilling continues with a 5,000-metre drill program expected to wrap up by the middle of this month. The company said all holes hit ore and the drill results will show an increased mineral resource estimate at Bradshaw.
In the meantime, Gowest said it’s “exploring opportunities to keep funding its operational and exploration activities.”
“We look forward to the continuing support of our principal investment group,” said Dan Gagnon, Gowest president-CEO in a statement, “especially as we work to balance the complexities of bringing Bradshaw into production and helping to see completion of the upgrade of Northern Sun’s mill at the same time we continue to expand the value of our gold assets, for the benefit of all of our investors. We have made good progress in advancing the mine and we look forward to seeing the first gold poured from there in less than a year.”
