The development of a new gold mine in the Timmins area continues to progress in preparation for a 2021 startup.
Toronto-based Gowest Gold said construction has started on the main ventilation raise and the escape raise at the Bradshaw gold deposit, situated on their expansive Frankfield property, 32 kilometres northeast of the city.
The company said these are two critical pieces of underground infrastructure needed to quickly transition Bradshaw from an advanced exploration project into a producing mine.
In a May 6 update of activity in Timmins, Gowest said plans are in place to start trucking their 30,000-tonne gold-bearing bulk sample this summer from the Bradshaw site to Northern Sun's Redstone processing mill, south of town, to begin converting the ore into high-grade concentrate.
With an estimated 8.5 years of mine life, Gowest expects Bradshaw to be a 50,000-ounce a year gold producer at the outset next year, but that could easily double as the company strongly believes their 109-square-kilometre property hosts multiple deposits.
At last count, Bradshaw contains 422,000 ounces of gold in the indicated category, grading 6.19 grams per tonne (g/t); and 755,000 ounces, grading 6.47 g/t on the inferred side, according to a 2015 pre-feasibility study.
As gold production increases, Gowest intends to build its own processing mill on site but their initial plan is to ship the concentrate overseas to the Humon Smelter in China where the gold will be extracted.
Gowest also announced that they've received the balance of a $1.6-million bridge loan from Lush Land Investment Canada, which funded the excavation of the bulk sample. However, the search continues to raise more money.
The 2015 project economic study put the mine project's initial capital costs at US$21.5 million, with added sustaining capital of $21.4 million.
The company said they're in discussions with "interested parties regarding one or more financings to raise sufficient funds to complete the bulk sample and take Bradshaw immediately into production."
Back on the construction side, Gowest reported back in February that almost 2,100 metres of underground development work on three levels was done, along with a portal, main ramp, and water treatment and ore sorting plants at surface.
