Premier Gold Mines’ 2018 exploration and development budget includes $18.1 million for its Hardrock project, which it jointly owns with Centerra Gold Mines. The $18.1 million is the first phase of a three-phase budget of up to $37.9 million that has been approved to advance permitting and detailed engineering for future development of an open pit mine.
The property is located 275 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay and two kilometres south of Geraldton. The Greenstone Gold Mines 50:50 joint-venture partnership contemplates an open pit mine with crushing, milling and processing infrastructure, a tailings management facility, a natural gas-fueled power plant, and explosives manufacturing and storage onsite. Between 1930 and 1970, four million ounces of gold was mined from the property.
A feasibility study for the operation estimates a 14.5-year mine life, gold production of 4.2 million ounces, mill throughput of 27,000 tonnes per day and initial capital cost of $1.25 billion.
Premier Gold Mines produced 139,658 ounces of gold in 2017 – 82,534 ounces from its 100 per cent owned Mercedes Mine in Mexico, and 57,124 ounces from the South Arturo Mine in Nevada in which it has a 40 per cent interest with Barrick Gold owning the remaining 60 per cent.
It also has several exploration projects in northwestern Ontario and Nevada, including a 44 per cent interest in the Rahill-Bonanza property and 100 per cent of the Hasaga property in Red Lake, as well as 100 per cent interest in the McCoy-Cove property and a 50 per cent interest in the Goldbanks property, both in Nevada.
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