By ADELLE LARMOUR
Porcupine Joint Venture (PJV) is investing millions of dollars in exploration and development into its land package in South Porcupine, just east of Timmins.
Gold prices near 25-year highs are driving the reopening, expansion and development of three of its existing gold mines. As well, the company will spend more than $8 million in exploration in 2006 on its extensive land holdings in the heart of the Porcupine mining camp that covers some 40,000-hectares. In addition, strategic partnerships have been formed that will see several prospective land packages farmed out to junior exploration companies.
The PJV is now 51 per cent owned by Goldcorp Ltd., with Kinross Gold Corporation retaining the remaining 49 per cent. Goldcorp acquired its interest in the PJV and other assets in Canada from Barrick Gold, which recently completed a takeover of Placer Dome earlier this year. Few changes have affected the 587-member workforce, says technical services manager Alastair Still.
The company is nearing completion on a massive $80- to $90-million expansion project for the Pamour open-pit mine that involved moving the top portion of Three Nation Lake and re-routing 6.2 kilometres of Highway 101.
In what Still calls a “significant event,” the almost century old underground Dome mine was reopened earlier this year after being placed on care and maintenance in 2004. The timing was perfect since the company retired its adjacent Dome super pit at the end of 2005.
Although no exploration is currently planned underground at Dome, Still says they are bringing into production existing resources that were uneconomic when the mine was placed on care and maintenance with gold prices hovering near $300 an ounce.
Another important development is the deepening of the Hoyle Pond underground mine. The completion of the first phase of an internal winze (internal shaft) has allowed deeper access to the high-grade ore to depths below 1,000 metres. The current shaft goes down to 720 m.
Still says the first phase of this material-handling shaft lets them access ore to about the 920-m level. Further deepening of the winze could increase its depth another 400 m.
The Hoyle Pond is considered such a high-grade deposit, roughly half of all PJV exploration dollars are focused on expanding the reserves and resources of the mine.
With continued success at exploration, Still sees a bright future for the mine, which recently passed the two-million-ounce gold production milestone in 2005.
“It’s likely to carry on for many years to come,” he says.
The 11,600 tonne-per-day mill, expanded two years ago to accommodate Pamour’s exceptionally “hard” ore, will process approximately 4.2 million tonnes annually.
Ten per cent of the milled tonnage comes from Hoyle Pond, five per cent from the Dome underground, and the remainder comes from the Pamour open pit and the stockpile at the Dome open pit.
The average gold grade of all the mines in production is approximately 2.7 g/tonne. Broken down, it is about 1.7 g/t from the Pamour pit mine, 1.2 g/t from the Dome stockpiles, 4.6 g/t from the Dome underground, and 12.6 g/t from the Hoyle Pond mine.
The PJV is currently engaged in a surface diamond drilling program on the Hollinger property. This activity aims to better determine the location and extent of underground mine workings, in addition to evaluating the potential to mine remnant gold mineralization as part of an open-pit mining operation.
The ongoing evaluation of the property is part of the closure planning process that PJV is completing for the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) for both the Hollinger and McIntyre mine properties. Reopening the site could remove some of the existing mining hazards, which may not be addressed by conventional closure of fencing off the property.
Decades of historical data are being compiled to see if an open-pit mine is feasible. In the meantime, PJV has begun its public consultations to deal with long-term closure issues as well as potential future mining opportunities.
The Hollinger mine operated underground from 1909 to 1968, and again in the ‘80s with limited underground mining and several small surface open pits.
Acquired in 1999, the PJV has since kept the property under care and maintenance. The company has been active in responding to the subsidence or “sinkhole” issue, diligently working with the MNDM for the past six years to ensure public safety, says Still.
As PJV’s unique and varied mining operations go forward, Still says the company is committed to spending money and investing in sustainability to ensure a prosperous future.
