Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Golden Predator revisits Brewery Creek

Golden Predator Mining Corp. July 13 said it has begun a 1,600-meter engineering and metallurgical drill program at its Brewery Creek gold property. Located 55 kilometers (34 miles) east of Dawson City in Yukon Territory, Brewery Creek is a past-producing heap leach gold mining operation where more than 278,000 ounces of gold was produced from seven near-surface oxide deposits between 1996 and 2002. This year’s drilling is focused at the Golden, Lucky and Kokanee pits where historical data indicates significant oxide gold mineralization remains unmined. The company plans to complete 18 holes to acquire material for column leach tests designed to confirm the in-situ gold grades and expected recoveries for the designed heap leach process included in a 2014 preliminary economic assessment. Another 11 holes will be drilled around these former pits to re-establish groundwater monitor wells and to obtain additional geotechnical information for pit designs and permit requirements. Once test results have been received, Golden Predator will be able to update and complete the mine design for permit submission to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board. The PEA targets 10.2 million metric tons of open pit material from eight deposits at an average grade of 1.35 grams per metric tons and reprocessing of 4.1 million metric tons of material from the old heap leach pad at an average grade of 0.77 g/t. The operation is expected to produce 372,000 ounces of gold over a nine-year span.

-Shane Lasley