Vancouver's Pure Gold Mining announced that its PureGold Mine in Red Lake has achieved commercial production, as of Aug. 1.
After a successful commissioning period, the company said the mine, milling facilities, and other critical systems are all operating in line with, or rapidly approaching, design capacity of 800 tonnes of ore per day on a sustainable basis.
The first gold pour took place last Dec. 29. The operation employs 260.
“Commercial production is a significant milestone and marks the beginning of a very exciting growth phase for the company," said company president-CEO Darin Labrenz in a statement.
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"By combining stable gold production with the high-grade exploration potential that makes the PureGold Mine so unique, we are making significant progress toward our goal of unlocking the full potential of the PureGold Mine and becoming Canada’s next iconic gold producer.”
The company is continuing an intensive surface and underground drilling program on its 47-square-kilometre property, just southwest of the community of Red Lake.
The PureGold Mine is on the site of the former Madsen Mine property, which hosted two former gold mines, the Madsen and the Starratt. Madsen became the Red Lake camp’s first million ounce gold producer and eventually recorded 2.5 million ounces between 1938 and 1976, averaging 9.9 grams per tonne. Pure Gold picked up the dormant mining property in 2014.
