Galleon Gold has received the green light from the province to begin test mining at its West Cache project, west of Timmins.
The Toronto gold company announced this week that the energy and mines ministry has approved and filed its mine closure plan, a major milestone that allows Galleon to move into key phase of its advanced exploration program.
The company intends to extract an 86,500-tonne bulk sample, which is estimated to contain 22,600 ounces of gold at a grade of 8.13 grams per tonne.
Galleon did not provide a specific date when this sample will be taken except to say site preparation, surface work, and other pre-development activities “will commence accordingly.”
West Cache is located 13 kilometres west of the city, along a historic mine trend that includes Pan American Silver’s Timmins West Mine.
Receiving approval of a closure plan is key for a mining company in Ontario. Mining operations can't start unless a certified closure plan is in place.
A closure plan goes into detail about the project construction, mining plans and describes what measures a company will take over the life of the mine to rehabilitate the site and restore it to a natural state. The company must also post financial assurance to cover the costs of rehabilitation.
A bulk sample is an advanced exploration technique that helps a mining company better understand the metallurgy of an ore body and helps it plan how to efficiently mine and process the ore to maximize the metal recoveries.
In early 2022, Galleon released a preliminary economic study proposing an underground mine at West Cache with an 11-year shelf life that could be build at a very low cost of $150 million.
The data collected from this sample will be used in a prefeasibility study that will provide more in-depth detail of what the mine will look like.
“With this approval in hand, we are now poised to advance surface work and begin pre-development activities,” said Galleon president-CEO David Russell in a statement. “We look forward to providing updates accordingly.”
