A feasibility study has been released for Greenstone Gold Mines’ Hardrock Project near Geraldton, a proposed open-pit gold mine.
Greenstone Gold, a partnership between Centerra Gold Inc. and Premier Gold Mines Ltd., released the feasibility study results on Nov. 16.
The mineralization has open-pit probable reserves of 4.7 million contained ounces of gold and is expected to produce 141.7 million tonnes at a grade of 1.02 grams per tonne of gold, using a cutoff grade of 0.33 grams per tonne of gold.
Over its 14.5-year life, the mine is expected to produce 288,000 ounces of gold per year, while the mill is expected to operate at 27,000 tonnes per day. It will cost $1.25 billion to build, which includes the processing plant and related infrastructure, the relocation of existing facilities, mining equipment, and mining during pre-production.
The workforce is expected to peak at 850 during the two-year construction and mining period.
Greenstone said it will move forward with the permitting process, continue discussions with nearby First Nations, look for project financing, and completing the environmental assessment (EA) process.
The company submitted its draft EA to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change in February.
The feasibility study only includes the Hardrock property, but the company said there may be future opportunities to extend the mine’s life by processing higher-grade material from the partnership’s other deposits, such as Brookbank or the Hardrock underground deposit.
