Brigus Gold Initiates Black Fox Mill Expansion
June 23 2011 - 06:00AM
Business Wire
Brigus Gold Corp. (“Brigus” or the “Company”) (NYSE Amex: BRD)
(TSX: BRD) announces that it will proceed with an initial expansion
of the Black Fox Mill, which is expected to be completed, and in
service, during the first quarter of 2012. This initial expansion
will increase processing capacity at the Mill to 2,200 tonnes per
day (tpd) through optimization of existing mill equipment and
elimination of production losses. The Company has commissioned a
Phase 2 mill expansion plan, that if implemented in the future,
would increase processing capacity to 3,500 tonnes per day and
would include replacement of the existing crushing plant with a
semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill.
Brigus hired Dan Mackie and Associates (DMA) to provide
technical and financial analysis of the expansion of the Black Fox
Mill. Based on recommendations in this report, Brigus will proceed
with the following Phase 1 expansion:
- The leach circuit at the mill will be
upgraded by adding two new and larger leach tanks, in a bunded area
designed for four tanks. The existing carbon in pulp (CIP), carbon
in leach (CIL) tanks and carbon columns would be reconfigured
allowing for a total of over 30 hours retention, nearly double the
current capacity. The higher retention time allows for a coarser
grind to be considered. The addition of two additional tanks will
provide sufficient total capacity to accommodate Phase 2 of the
mill expansion if the Company proceeds with this in the
future.
- An improved secondary mill feed
diverter will be installed to de-bottleneck the flows to the two
secondary mills and to assist in handling the higher throughput.
This new configuration will include a “riffle” or “gold trap” as a
temporary step in determining the nature of any potential coarse
gold that could be handled in a gravity circuit, to be built later,
possibly as part of Phase 2.
- New carbon screens and a carbon fines
recovery circuit will be added with the installation of a plate and
frame filter and surge tank. This will significantly reduce the
carbon fines losses to tails.
Phase 1 of the mill expansion is expected to cost approximately
$9 million with a payback of less than one year.
“Phase 1 of the mill expansion is a logical step in the
optimization of our Black Fox Mill,” said Richard Allan, Chief
Operating Officer of Brigus. “The significant capacity increase and
short payback period make this an attractive investment. The Black
Fox Complex has tremendous development potential and this positions
us well to capitalize on growth opportunities in the future.”
A decision to proceed with the Phase 2 expansion will facilitate
rapid development scenarios from new discoveries within the Black
Fox Complex. In conjunction with the Phase 1 mill expansion and
continuing exploration success from the Black Fox Complex, Brigus
has deferred a production decision on its Saskatchewan Goldfields
property as it considers various expansion scenarios at the Black
Fox Complex and involving an expanded Black Fox Mill.
Chief Operating Officer Richard Allen, P. Eng., reviewed the
technical information in this release as the Qualified Person for
the Company.
About Brigus
Brigus is a growing gold producer committed to maximizing
shareholder value through a strategy of efficient production,
targeted exploration and select acquisitions. The Company operates
the wholly owned Black Fox Complex in the Timmins gold district of
Ontario, Canada. The Black Fox Complex encompasses the Black Fox
Mine and Mill, and adjoining Grey Fox-Pike River property, all in
the Township of Matheson, Ontario, Canada. Brigus is also advancing
its Goldfields Project located near Uranium City, Saskatchewan,
Canada, which hosts the Box and Athona gold deposits. In Mexico,
Brigus has a letter of intent to sell 75% of its Ixhuatan
silver-gold projected located in the state of Chiapas. In the
Dominican Republic, Brigus has a letter of intent to sell its
remaining interests in three mineral exploration projects.
Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this news release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risk,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. All statements regarding the ability of
the Company to achieve targeted gold production at its Black Fox
Mine, including underground production, and cash costs, mill
expansion results, meet capital construction schedules and costs,
and the continuation of a rising gold price are forward-looking
statements and estimates that involve various risks and
uncertainties. This forward-looking information includes, or may be
based upon, estimates, forecasts, and statements as to management's
expectations with respect to, among other things, the issue of
permits, the size and quality of the company's mineral resources,
progress in development of mineral properties, future production
and sales volumes, capital and mine production costs, demand and
market outlook for metals, future metal prices and treatment and
refining charges, and the financial results of the Company.
Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from these forward-looking statements include
environmental risks and other factors disclosed under the heading
“Risk Factors” in Brigus Gold’s most recent Annual Information Form
and Management Discussion and Analysis filed under the Company’s
name at www.sedar.com and annual report on Form 40-F filed with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov as
well as elsewhere in Brigus’ documents filed from time to time with
the Toronto Stock Exchange, the NYSE Amex Equities, the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory
authorities. All forward-looking statements included in this news
release are based on information available to the Company on the
date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable
securities laws.
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