Heavy spring run-off cut into gold production at McEwen Mining’s Black Fox Mine, near Matheson.
The Toronto-based miner reported 9,420 ounces in the second quarter, according to a July 17 news release.
The company allowed the western part of the mine to temporarily flood in order to protect the main infrastructure of the underground operation. Some areas of the mine, targeted for production during the quarter, were declared off limits.
As a result, production guidance for this year will slip from a forecasted 50,000 gold ounces to 45,000 ounces.
The company’s Black Fox Complex is 10 kilometres east of the town of Matheson and 65 kilometres east of Timmins. Their 5,100-hectare package is next to Highway 101.
McEwen has one of the largest exploration programs in Northern Ontario underway on their Black Fox and Stock properties with 10 drill rigs on surface, and one underground, turning on an $18-million program.
In May, the company was pleased with the assay results at Black Fox, and followed that up in July with the release of more high-grade drill results from a potential new area of mineralization on its Grey Fox property.
McEwen Mining, a gold and silver producer, has other mines in Nevada, Mexico and Argentina, including a large copper deposit in the South American country. On May 23, the company kicked off commercial production at its Gold Bar Mine in Nevada.
“The big events in Q2 were achieving commercial production at Gold Bar in late May and the high-grade exploration results from the Black Fox properties,” said chairman and chief owner Rob McEwen in a statement.
“Production results in the quarter were mixed. San José (Argentina) and El Gallo (Mexico), which accounted for 62 per cent of our Q2 production, performed well this quarter. At Gold Bar and Black Fox, we have had our head down and were pushing hard all quarter long. While both mines delivered better production in Q2 than in Q1, we didn’t achieve our forecast numbers. As a result, we have reduced our 2019 production guidance for gold by 6 per cent.”
