To support the restart of tailings reprocessing at True North, the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) has provided the company a $300,000 grant, which will be used to fund the start-up costs associated with the operations, including the payroll costs during the initial ramp-up period.
“We are pleased to receive this support from the MMDF as we prepare for another productive year of tailings reprocessing operations. Work completed early in 2022 will increase the efficiency of our operations this year and maximize gold production.” Shaun Heinrichs, president and CEO of 1911 Gold, stated.
One of 1911’s flagship assets, the True North complex includes a modern, fully permitted 1,300 t/d processing facility, tailings management area and reprocessing operation, underground mine infrastructure (currently under temporary closure), and the True North gold deposit.
Located on the north shore of Rice Lake, about 150 km northeast of Winnipeg, it represents a key component of the company’s overall corporate strategy to develop a district-scale gold exploration and mining operation around a centralized ore processing facility.
The historic True North mine has produced more than 2 million oz. of gold over a mine life that has spanned close to 100 years.
The tailings management area is located 1.6 km northeast of the processing facility, in an area naturally defined by bedrock ridges around the perimeter of a previously boggy area. It includes west and east impoundments, totaling 110 hectares in area, separated by an 11-hectare polishing pond.
Beginning in 1997, tailings containing unrecovered gold were pumped as slurry via pipeline to the tailings area from the processing facility. The potential to economically reprocess these tailings to recover gold was identified after a review of drilling undertaken in 2014, which indicated an average gold grade of 1.47 g/t. Current process plant recovery is nameplated at 93.5% based on a feed grade of 5.5 g/t gold.
Further sampling was completed in 2016 to evaluate the resource, and tailings reprocessing commenced that year with a probable reserve of 1.06 million tonnes at 0.96 g/t gold (containing 32,400 oz. of gold) and an indicated resource (inclusive of mineral reserves) of 1.94 million tonnes at 0.82 g/t gold (containing 51,000 oz. of gold).
An updated mineral resource estimate for the True North tailing reprocessing operation was produced in March 2018, showing 1.79 million indicated tonnes grading 0.83 g/t gold for 48,000 oz. of contained gold.
Additional information can be found at www.1911Gold.com.
