Vancouver-based Veris Gold reports improved June production
— Photo courtesy Veris Gold.
Veris Gold Corp. is pleased to provide an additional mid-quarter update regarding production improvements at its wholly-owned Jerritt Canyon gold mine and processing facility in Elko County, Nevada. Jerritt Canyon is operated by Veris Gold USA Ltd. (“Veris USA”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.
Overall operational report
For the month of June the plant averaged over 3,777 tonnes per day, producing 14,922 ounces (including approximately 1,195 ounces from Newmont Mining toll milling), with an average recovery of 87%, a significant improvement over the recoveries achieved earlier in the year.
R. Llee Chapman, president and CEO of Veris Gold commented, “Our team at Jerritt Canyon delivered an excellent month in June: We had no accidents, we mined over 91,000 tonnes from our three underground mines; a new record for the property, and we also had a great tonnage run from our high-grade mine, Starvation Canyon, where over 28,000 tonnes were delivered to the mill. In the plant we processed over 113,000 tonnes during the month and achieved approximately 87% recovery which is our 2013 goal. All of this resulted in 14,922 ounces of gold production for June of which an estimated 1,195 gold ounces are attributed to toll milling for Newmont.”
Mr. Chapman further commented, “I want our investors and shareholders to understand that while our share price has faced significant headwinds in this difficult gold market, the first step in the ongoing process of turning our company around is to ensure that the Jerritt Canyon assets are productive and efficient. Our team is one of the very best in the business and you can see by these recent results the Jerritt Canyon property continues to improve because of their sustained efforts. We look forward to delivering and reporting on more of this tremendous ‘can-do’ attitude to our shareholders in the near term."
Francois Marland, executive chairman, said, “These results provide confirmation that the team the board has put in place and the changes made to senior management are proving effective. The operations at Jerritt Canyon have a renewed vigour and this has spread throughout the company from top to bottom, with the corresponding improvement in all statistics a direct result of these actions.”
Mine production
During the second quarter the SSX Mine produced a total of 95,811 tonnes containing 14,174 ounces averaging 1,041 tonnes per day. The Smith Mine produced record tonnage during the quarter totaling 135,904 tonnes containing 19,066 ounces averaging 1,477 tonnes per day for the quarter. A slight reduction in grade was seen during part of the quarter as development work was completed. Ramp up at Starvation Canyon exceeded expectations with total production during the quarter of 45,869 tonnes containing 8,217 ounces averaging 498 tonnes per day with grades of 0.18 ounces per tonne.
Toll milling
Total ore processed at Jerritt Canyon in June includes 4,763 tonnes from Newmont. The company also took delivery of an additional 2,700 tonnes of Atna Resources Pinson ore in late June.
The plant continues to operate at an average of 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes per day with an average of 1,000 tonnes of excess ore per day capacity, currently being used for processing lower grade Jerritt Canyon stockpile. The company continues the process of negotiating additional toll milling contracts with several companies and anticipates announcing new toll milling agreements in the near future.
Production outlook
The company continues to be focused on achieving the targeted production of 145,000 to 155,000 ounces for the year from its three existing underground mines. The results from this quarter, particularly May and June, show that this target is achievable and sustainable going forward. The company is continuing to utilize internal resources to open the Saval 4 Portal located north of the SSX-Steer mine within the next two months. This will allow the company to draw additional ores at comparable grades for at least another year from this source.
Quality Control
Assaying of all mine production samples were conducted by the Jerritt Canyon lab using standard fire assay techniques. The company’s 2012 and 2013 Quality Assurance and Quality Control protocols are similar to those done in 2010 and 2011 and are available at the company’s website.
The information in this news release was compiled and reviewed by William Hofer B.Sc., chief geologist, Jerritt Canyon Mine. The information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by the company’s vice-president of Exploration, Todd Johnson, M.Sc. (Qualified Person per the requirements of NI 43-101).
