Sudbury-based Wallbridge Mining has entered into a US$8 million secured bridge loan with Auramet International to finance a 35,000-tonne bulk sample program at its 100 per cent-owned Fenelon Gold property in Quebec.
“Preparation for the bulk sample is progressing well,” said Marz Kord, president and CEO of Wallbridge. “Dewatering of the pit and underground is now 50 per cent complete and (we are) on track with (our) plan to begin ore production in the third quarter of 2018. The bridge loan enables (us) to minimize equity dilution and to seamlessly advance the bulk sample as scheduled.”
Dewatering of the Fenelon pit and underground was to have been completed by the third week of April followed by camp set-up, and mobilization by an underground mining contractor. Underground exploration drilling and ore production is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2018 with the bulk sample completed during 2018.
The company’s plans include the extraction of 35,000 tonnes of mineralized material with a grade ranging between 18 g/t and 25 g/t from planned stopes within the first 125 metres from surface. Approximately 5,000 to 8,000 metres of underground drilling is planned in conjunction with the bulk sample. The majority of this drilling is designed to expand the resource along strike and to depth. An additional 10,000-metre surface-drilling program is scheduled to start in the latter part of this year to follow known mineralized zones and expand resources further away from the mine workings.
Wallbridge’s Fenelon Gold property is located in northwestern Quebec proximal to the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone, which hosts the Detour Gold Mine in Ontario, and Balmoral Resources’ gold deposits at Martiniere.
Since acquiring the property in late 2016, Wallbridge has completed an updated resource estimate and a positive pre-feasibility study on the existing resource. In addition, Wallbridge has completed 33 drill holes totalling 6,348 metres in three surface exploration drilling campaigns at Fenelon.
