ROUNDUP 2018: OSISKO’S ROOSEN ADDRESSES THE INDUSTRY / 3 Geotech_Earlug_2016_Alt2.pdf 1 2016-06-24 4:27:20 PM
SPECIAL FOCUS
LITHIUM
New technology breeds optimism from Ontario to Argentina / 9–14
VTEM™ | ZTEM™ | Gravity | Magnetics 905 841 5004 | geotech.ca
FEBRUARY 5–18, 2018 / VOL. 104 ISSUE 3 / GLOBAL MINING NEWS · SINCE 1915 / $3.99 / WWW.NORTHERNMINER.COM
Pretium’s Ovsenek explains Brucejack ramp-up troubles BC GOLD
| BMO’s Kaip sees Q4 production as ‘well below’ expectations
China’s Zhaojin becomes cornerstone investor in Sabina NUNAVUT
| $66M buys 9.9% of junior advancing Back River project BY TRISH SAYWELL tsaywell@northernminer.com
O
ne of China’s largest gold companies has invested $66 million for a 9.9% stake in Canada’s Sabina Gold & Silver (TSX: SBB), a junior that is advancing its wholly owned Back River gold project in Nunavut. Negotiations with Zhaojin International, a subsidiary of Zhaojin Mining, China’s fourth-biggest gold producer, began two years ago, Sabina president and CEO Bruce McLeod told The Northern Miner, adding that it marks the Chinese company’s first significant See SABINA / 15
The processing plant at Pretium Resources’ Brucejack gold mine in northwest British Columbia. PRETIUM RESOURCES BY MATTHEW KEEVIL mkeevil@northernminer.com VANCOUVER
S
hares of Pretium Resources (TSX: PVG; N YSE: PVG) dropped after a Jan. 23 production update for its f lagship Brucejack underground gold mine in northwestern B.C.’s Golden Triangle district. The company’s stock closed at a 52-week low of $9.18 after four
days of trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It saw 13 million shares traded at press time. Pretium’s release reviewed the initial six-month ramp up at Brucejack and provided guidance for the first six months of 2018. The company reportedly produced 152,484 oz. gold at the operation since declaring commercial production in July. During the fourth quarter it milled 271,501 tonnes of ore and produced 70,281 oz. gold.
Leading provider of analytical geochemistry services
alsglobal.com/geochemistry • clientserviceswcan@alsglobal.com
“The market didn’t give us any leeway, and they’re entitled to do that, but this is all part of the process,” Pretium president and CEO Joseph Ovsenek said during an interview on Jan. 29. “We certainly started out very well, but it’s still a ramp up. You don’t just start up a mine and turn on the factory. It’s much more complicated.” Pretium said that grade reconciliation to the reserve model ran 75% to 80% from August to December. Ore from stopes developed on the project’s 1,200-metre level sill provided 25% of mill feed, and the area had a “lower drill density than stopes on other levels of the mine.” Brucejack’s Valley of the Kings (VOK) deposit contains 8.1 million oz. gold in 15.6 million proven and probable tonnes of 16.1 grams gold per tonne. The West Zone deposit, which is north of VOK and part of the current mine plan, has 2.9 million proven and probable tonnes of 6.9 grams gold for 600,000 oz. gold. “We’ve been pushing [grade reconciliation] from our first week of mining. We told everyone that
“RIGHT NOW WE’RE FIVE MONTHS INTO MINING ON AN OPERATION THAT HAS A 20-YEAR LIFE.”
PM40069240
JOSEPH OVSENEK PRESIDENT AND CEO, PRETIUM RESOURCES
it was very early days and we’d do the best we could at year-end,” Ovsenek said. “It is early days on grade reconciliation along with everything else. We believe as we get into other better-defined areas, and open up the deposit, we’ll be able to approach parity with our grade model. But right now we’re five months into mining on an operation that has a 20-year life.” BMO Capital Markets analyst Andrew Kaip noted that Pretium’s fourth-quarter production numSee PRETIUM / 2
NORTHERN VERTEX: MOVES MOSS TOWARDS PRODUCTION / 23
1-16, 23_FEB5_Main .indd 1
2018-01-30 9:02 PM