Gowest Gold has started underground development work at its Bradshaw Deposit near Timmins.
Bradshaw is part of the company’s North Timmins Gold Project, located northeast of Glencore’s Kidd Mine.
In a May 25 news release, the company said development started on May 11 with its first blast, at the east side of the outcrop.
As of May 24, the company had driven the first 40 metres of the decline to the south in anticipation of reaching the first mineralized zone to begin a 30,000-tonne bulk sample. Crews have been working on the decline in two shifts since May 17.
The run of mine ore will first be crushed and sent through a Dual Energy X-ray Transmission (DEXRT) ore sorting unit supplied by Steinert US, which is to be used to sharply reduce handling costs and increase gold grades of ore sent for processing.
Ongoing definition drilling continues to identify promising zones above areas previously defined in the prefeasibility study, the release noted.
“Very few junior exploration companies ever transition into a developer,” said Greg Romain, Gowest's president, in the release.
“However, through the dedication of our team, business partners, shareholders, First Nation communities and the City of Timmins, Gowest is on its way to achieving our goal of becoming the next new gold mine in the Timmins Camp.”
The company continues to work on establishing a 50/50 joint venture agreement with Northern Sun Mining Corp., which will own and operate the Redstone Mill. Gowest expects the transaction to be complete by July.
Bradshaw has a National Instrument 43-101 indicated resource estimate of 2.1 million tonnes, grading 6.19 grams per tonne gold, containing 422 thousand ounces gold, and an inferred resource of 3.6 million tonnes, grading 6.47 grams per tonne gold, containing 755 thousand ounces gold.
The deposit has additional reserves, in the probable category, totalling 1.8 million tonnes, grading 4.82 grams per tonne gold, for 277,000 ounces gold, using a 3 gram-per-tonne cutoff and utilizing a gold price of US$1,200 per ounce.
