Minnova closer to restarting PL mine in Manitoba

In a press release, the miner said despite having conducted a relatively modest work program that included 13-hole step-out drilling, field mapping and prospecting, it made significant advances at PL in 2020.

Among such positive results that put the company one step closer to restarting the mine is the extension of the strike length of the FW Tonalite, a major lithology that occurs in the footwall to the PL deposit resource, which is currently defined over a strike length of 1.2 kilometers and is still open on strike.

Minnova reported that it also identified a number of previously unmapped high angle structures in the FW Tonalite, some of which are associated with anomalous gold mineralization. In consequence, the FW tonalite is now considered a prospective target for hosting gold mineralized structures.

The miner also discovered high-grade mineralization at surface on the permitted mining lease that will be targeted for infill drilling and possibly a surface bulk sample in 2021 and identified high priority targets located off the mining lease, which will be also targeted for drilling in the new year.

“The culmination of this work is the development of a new geological model that will improve our infill and step-out drilling planned for current PL deposit mineralized trends and new high angle structures,” the company said.

“We will continue our discussions with various contractors to optimize the 2017 feasibility study restart plan with updated capex and opex cost estimates.”

The restart of PL forecasts an average annual production rate of 46,493 ounces over at least five years.

According to Minnova, the PL gold mine has a relatively short pre-production timeline forecast at 15 months, benefits from a valid underground mining permit, an existing processing plant and over 7,000 meters of developed underground ramp to -135 meters depth.