For anyone interested in this type of detailed info.
1) Additional (longer term) bulk mining potential
From the independent Gorman (DD) report:
“Dr van Hees considers that Century has a good opportunity in the future to drill to establish the bulk potential of the deep Lamaque Plug located at a depth of 3600 ft (1100m). This is not currently in the reserve and cannot be accessed for 3 years until the mine is pumped out and the Sigma shafts are refurbished and are operational.”
I think this is the 525,000 bulk mineable ounces (located at 3,600 ft) that the company has talked about in the past. This is in addition to the potential bulk mining ounces located between the surface and 2,000 ft, just recently announced by Century. It’s good to see that the independent expert considers our chances to establish the 3,600 ft bulk mining ounces to be good. You know, the potential of 525,000 new ounces (not counted as yet) could mean potential for 5 additional years to mine life (at the current plan of 100,000 production run rate) – if it all comes together of course. Lamaque will not need these ounces for many years into the future so it doesn’t matter that we can’t access them for another 3 years.
2) Bedard Dyke
From the independent Gorman (DD) report:
“The three main areas that are scheduled to be mined in the initial 3 years of operation and produce 1.6 Mt of ore at a grade of 4.78 g Au/t are the bulk ores contained in the Bedard Dyke (Sigma West) and ….”
It looks like the Bedard Dyke is 1 of the 3 places they will initiate mining within in the initial 3 years.
From the independent Gorman (DD) report:
“The section of the Bedard Dyke that is to be mined has been delineated by only 3 drill holes but has been previously successfully mined by Century in the open pit. The programme of a further 12 to 15 holes are scheduled to be drilled before commencing development in order to prove up the geometry ahead of mining commencing in month 4 of 2009. After completing an examination of the drill plans, sections and spreadsheets provided in November 2008 by Century, Dr van Hees has concluded that the first phase of drilling on the Bedard Dyke is acceptable since it is aimed at establishing the extent of the mineralization exposed in the pit wall. The planned 30 ft (9m) wide stopes are to be located beneath the limit of the City of Val D’Or. Although the design includes a 120 ft (35m) crown pillar, the Bedard Dyke open stope has the potential to be up to a 1000 ft (300m) in height.”
It looks like they have already successfully mined a bit of the Bedard Dyke while mining the open pit. Hopefully they were able to gather a lot of good info, at least with regards to the mineralization located within the pit wall.
The independent expert is optimistic that the Bedard Dyke has the potential to go down 1,000 ft.
As suggested in a previous post, I am of the belief that we have an opportunity to add a sizeable chunk to our 43-101 resource count once we drill the Bedard Dyke - I don't the 43-101 count includes very many (if any) ounces from this area as yet (due to lack of drilling).
3) West Plug (higher grades – switched over to underground mining)
From the independent Gorman (DD) report:
“PRL notes that Century has also scheduled mining of both the West Plug (0.45 Mt at 4.27 g/t) and Lamaque Plug (0.62 Mt at 5.37 g/t) during production years 7 to 11. The mining of the West Plug was originally planned to be carried out using Open Pit methods but will now be done using underground access which has not been defined to sufficient detail.”
P2 West Plug reserve ounces reviewed by the independent expert – 635,733 tonnes @ 4.68 g/t = 95,593 ounces
West Plug ounces scheduled for production by Century – 449,680 tonnes @ 4.27 g/t = 58,646 ounces
The difference (35,000 West Plug u/g ounces) likely represents ounces not included in the current 11 plan as yet.
Also, it appears as if all of these West Plug u/g ounces have been added to the resource profile for the first time.
It also potentially means that the previously reported 69,163 West Plug open pit ounces (1.87 g/t reserves and 2.38 g/t inferred) are still sitting out there somewhere. They are not planning to mine the West Plug for another 7 years. That’s a long time away. One cannot be absolutely certain that the open pit ounces will never be mined, especially since the grades are half decent (even for a short distance trucking requirement).
So, does this all mean there are 165,000 ounces sitting at West Plug (u/g and o/p combined)? It appears to be that way, but I'm not sure exactly.
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