Mining News: TMAC makes headway; hires experienced COO

TMAC Resources Inc. Aug. 14 said its first drill program at the Boston deposit, located in the southern portion of its Hope Bay project in Nunavut, has cut high-grade gold mineralization over wide widths. Dr., Chief Executive Officer of TMAC, stated, “Since acquiring the Hope Bay Project in 2013, we have focused on Doris and patiently waited to initiate a major exploration campaign at Boston until we had the Doris mine in commercial production. Having achieved that effective June 1, we recommissioned the Boston camp located about 60 kilometers south of the Doris complex and initiated our first drilling program there this summer,” said TMAC CEO Catharine Farrow. T Boston hosts 3.71 metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 9.2 grams per metric tons gold (1.1 million ounces) gold, of which roughly 870,000 oz are contained in the B2 zone. The best 2017 hole drilled so far at Boston, TMB0001, cut 22.3 meters averaging 15.3 grams per metric ton gold, in the B2 zone. The objective of the ongoing drill program at Boston is to provide further understanding of the geological controls on gold mineralization and demonstrate the potential to add significant high-grade gold ounces to the Boston Mineral Resource base at shallow depths.

Additionally, TMAC said ongoing drilling at Doris below the dyke, or Doris BTD, continues to intersect high grade gold over mineable widths and the underground development there confirms the continuity of the ore bearing structures at depth. The company plans to develop BTD zone to facilitate the planned doubling of the mill at Hope Bay to 2,000 metric tons per day. The mill reached commercial production on June 1, but poor recoveries have hampered the ability to reach full operating capacity. “The characteristics of the Doris ore have been in line with expectations and are not the cause of any complications in the plant recoveries,” Farrow said. “Recently, increased throughput and improved availability of the plant have provided sufficient plant stability to focus on improving recoveries and we continue to make technical advancements. The slower than expected ramp up has resulted in fewer ounces of gold being produced than planned and we now expect to sell between 50,000 and 60,000 ounces of gold in 2017.”

The company has also hired Gil Lawson, a mining engineer with 31 years of experience, as chief operating officer. Lawson’s three decades of experience includes work in the Timmins and Red Lake gold mining districts in Ontario, which are very similar to Hope Bay gold. He has managed two start-up operations – Goldcorp Inc.’s Musselwhite Mine in Ontario and De Beers Canada Ltd.’s Snap Lake Mine in the Northwest Territories. “Gil’s extensive start-up experience at Musselwhite and Snap Lake, plus his experience working in Canada’s Arctic – leading engineering and mine planning departments for a major gold mining company, operating gold mines and processing plants in geological environments similar to ours at Hope Bay – will enable us to complete the ramp up and optimization at Doris,” said Farrow.

–SHANE LASLEY