Third-quarter results for the Black Fox Complex near Timmins are a mixed bag for McEwen Mining.
Production in the third quarter of 2019 was down at the Timmins-area mine. Black Fox produced 7,421 gold ounces in the quarter, which was below company expectations.
The company cited “insufficient working areas and delays in advancing underground development” for the numbers.
But on the exploration side of things, new results from Black Fox and the Stock property, where the company’s mill is located, are “reason for excitement for the future,” the company said.
In 2019, the company will spend $18 million on exploration at Black Fox, including surface and underground drilling.
Drilling began in April, and 14 surface rigs and one underground rig are “actively exploring” on the Black Fox and Stock properties.
“The best results are coming from the Stock Property, where our mill is located, and the Grey Fox deposit area at the Black Fox Property, where exploration is adding to already significant gold resources,” the company noted in an Oct. 17 news release.
“Underground drilling at the Black Fox Mine is focusing on resource development along the western flank of the mine and at depth below 900 metres.”
Recent intercepts from the Stock East property included 83.5 grams per tonne gold over 5.6 metres, including 417 g/t over 1.1 m; and 34.7 g/t gold over 5.9 m, including 74.1 g/t over 2.7 m.
“Exploration continued to shine this quarter with Stock and Grey Fox drill results returning multi-ounce gold intersections at relatively shallow depths,” Rob McEwen, chair and chief owner, said in the release.
Across operations, the company produced 35,043 gold ounces and 947,146 silver ounces in the third quarter.
Operations improved at Gold Bar Mine in Nevada, “achieving several key performance benchmarks for ore production, crushing throughput, and gold production,” the company said.
In addition, the company said the San José Mine in Argentina and the El Gallo Mine in Mexico both performed well, meeting their production targets.
