May 8 2019
Victoria Gold Corp. provided an update on the construction work at the Eagle Gold Mine.
Nearly 90% of the construction was complete with over 1,250,000 hours worked without a Lost Time Incident (“LTI”).
With construction activities on the verge of completion and operations well advanced, the Eagle Gold Mine is nearing reality. The mine is ahead of schedule and ready to deliver tremendous value for all Victoria stakeholders for many years to come.
John McConnell, President and CEO, Victoria Gold
Ongoing activities on the site are concentrated on finishing electrical, mechanical, and instrumentation installation at the secondary/tertiary crushing plant and the overland conveyor as well as early pre-commissioning.
Construction
Obtaining of all key equipment is 100% over with all overweight loads supplied to the site. Overall structural steel is practically done, mechanical is about 80% complete while electrical is 75% complete.
Site Infrastructure, including Grid Power
Site infrastructure is done. The 45 km, 69 kV powerline from the Yukon electrical grid and the on-site 13.8 kV power distribution are finished. The two related sub-stations and all transformers are over. The powerline to the site is scheduled to be energized in early May and will be used for commissioning and into operations.
Crushing and Conveying
The main crusher install is done and will be totally pre-commissioned with the support of the vendor, Metso, in the near future. The MSE retaining wall needed for the main crusher is well ahead of the timetable and approximately 65% over. The MSE wall is anticipated to be over in the next 2 to 3 weeks allowing full commissioning of the main crusher well ahead of the timetable.
The secondary and tertiary crushing facility structural steel is considerably complete. Mechanical progress is close to completion with all primary components estimated to be entirely installed in the coming days. The team is determined on electrical implementation and the facility is on target for an on-time completion.
The overland conveyor, which takes the crushed ore 1.4 km across the valley to the heap leach facility, is well ahead of the timetable and belting is being set up and spliced. Commissioning of the overland conveyor is planned for mid-May. A number of other conveyors are close to completion with three already pre-commissioned.
Heap Leach Pad and Gold Recovery Plant
The four-layer liner system and solution piping for the sump of the heap leach pad was finished in late 2018. The event pond is entirely lined and lining of phase 1 of the heap leach pad above the sump is well advanced which provides adequate ore capacity through 2020 and into 2021. All key construction activities at the gold recovery plant are done and pre-commission is about 65% complete.
Commissioning
Commissioning activities are ongoing. There are 22 main systems and 79 subsystems that have been recognized in the commissioning plan which will simplify early commissioning and a smooth commissioning schedule. General commissioning progress surpasses 10% and substantial progress is anticipated during the month of May.
Pre-Production Mining
Development of the chief haul road into the open pit is over. The first in-pit production bench development started in March. So far, pre-production mining is well on schedule and under budgeted costs. All operations are being self-performed using the Caterpillar mine fleet including two D10 dozers, four 785 haul trucks, a 16M grader, a 390 excavator, and a 6040 production shovel.
Operations
Victoria Gold carries on advance recruitment of the operations team. The operations management team and chief supervisors have been hired. The remaining operations team is being on-boarded with a present head count of approximately 164 operations personnel. Approximately 45% of the existing staff comprise of Yukon residents including a number of citizens from the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun (“FNNND”). The company is targeting at least 50% Yukon residents to fill the approximate 260 employees planned to be on board by the end of 2019.
All main contract and supply agreements are ready or are in the last stages of completion. A substantial number of the vendors given contract or supply agreements have partnership arrangements with the FNNND Development Corp.
Schedule to First Gold Pour
First ore is anticipated to be delivered to the heap leach pad early in calendar Q3 2019. Victoria Gold is presently targeting a first gold pour early in calendar Q4 2019.
Qualified Person
The technical content of this press release has been appraised and approved by Anthony (Tony) George, P.Eng., as the Qualified Person. For more information concerning the Property, refer to the technical report entitled “NI 43-101 Feasibility Study Technical Report for the Eagle Gold Project, Yukon Territory, Canada”, with an effective date of September 12th, 2016.
About the Dublin Gulch Property
Victoria Gold's 100%-owned Dublin Gulch gold property is located in central Yukon Territory, Canada, about 375 km north of the capital city of Whitehorse, and about 85 km from the town of Mayo. The Property is accessible by road year-round, and is situated within Yukon Energy's electrical grid.
The Property spans an area of approximately 555 km2, and is the place of the company's Eagle Gold Deposit. The Eagle Gold Mine is under construction and is projected to be Yukon's next operating gold mine.
The Eagle and Olive deposits, include Proven and Probable Reserves of 2.7 million ounces of gold from 123 million tons of ore with a grade of 0.67 g of gold per ton, as drawn in a National Instrument 43-101 feasibility study entitled Report for the Eagle Gold Project and dated October 26, 2016. The NI 43-101 Mineral Resource for the Eagle and Olive deposits has been projected, as at December 5, 2018, to host 208 million tons averaging 0.66 g of gold per ton, containing 4.4 million ounces of gold in the "Measured and Indicated" category, inclusive of Proven and Probable Reserves, and an additional 20 million tons averaging 0.64 g of gold per ton, having 0.4 million ounces of gold in the "Inferred" category.