MacDonald Mines is working with a Timmins toll miller on developing a process that will maximize recoveries from gold-bearing sands on its Wawa property.
The Toronto gold explorer announced June 6 that it’s collaborating with Northern Sun Mining, a toll milling operator, to maximize the precious metal grades and possibly upgrade it at the site prior to shipping.
The company is undertaking an aggressive exploration program at its Wawa-Holdsworth Project, 20 kilometres northeast of the town.
There are three gold targets on the 1,142-acre property including gold-bearing oxide sands, which has been the company’s exploration focus for the past 16 months.
It believes the sands offer quick mine production potential and that the larger property hosts a district-scale gold system.
The company stated that the sand can be extracted like an aggregate. Trenching and sonic drilling programs were done last year to better define the material. A preliminary metallurgical study returned positive results.
Golder Associates is currently completing a resource estimate of the sands in preparation for potential extraction.
MacDonald Mines is also planning to take a bulk sample this summer in preparation for the negotiation of an off-take agreement.
Northern Sun Mining owns and operates the Redstone Mill near Timmins. It processes ores from third party feeds.
"We are excited to work with the team at Northern Sun. The Redstone Mill, the company operates near Timmins, has been processing third party feeds for many years now and we look forward to Northern Sun’s involvement and expertise as we continue to work towards the exploitation of the Oxide Sands,” said MacDonald Mines president Quentin Yale in a June 6 news release.
