Mining News: Northern Neighbors: Pretium taps new zones near Valley of the Kings

Pretium Resources Inc. Sept. 21 reported initial results from exploration drilling at the Flow Dome Zone, located east of the Valley of the Kings deposit at its Brucejack Project in Northwest British Columbia. Hole SU-654 cut 1.5 meters of 16.9 grams of gold per metric ton at a depth of 877.5 meters, followed immediately by a 33-meter intercept of 0.55 g/t gold; hole SU-657 cut 21.87 g/t gold over nine meters, from a depth of 932 meters; and hole SU-658 cut 2.35 meters of 6.2 g/t gold from a depth of 778.65 meters, immediately followed by 0.26 g/t gold over 90 meters. Hole 657 was drilled about 650 meters east of the Valley of the Kings, and holes 654 and 658 are about 1,000 meters east of the high-grade gold deposit. Pretium said these high-grade intersections along with long intervals of low-grade mineralization suggest a new stockwork zone or an extension of the Valley of the Kings deposit. Roughly 10,000 to 15,000 meters of drilling is planned for Flow Dome and the Kitchenview Zone, located northeast of the Valley of the Kings, during the 2015 program.

Pretium also said it has closed a US$540 million construction financing package with the Orion Mine Finance Group and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities. The company was advanced US$340 million at closing, which will be used to continue development of the Brucejack Mine. First production at this high-grade underground gold mine is targeted for 2017.

–Shane Lasley