North Bay Resources Inc. is pleased to issue the following progress report of the work ongoing at the Ruby Mine in Sierra County, California.
The Big Bend raise being constructed into the Black Channel is nearing completion. The final leg is being installed at a more measured pace to help insure that the raise punches through into the Black Channel in a location where drainage will not be an issue. Upon completion we will have driven the raise from the Contractor's Drift into the Black Channel, just north of the Big Bend area. Once we break through, we expect there will then be a period of assessment in the newly-accessed areas to determine what sections of the Black Channel can be mined in the near-term while exploration proceeds forward in the rest of the channel.
The drilling program that began on March 27 is continuing. The work was initiated using our own crew and in-house equipment, which was intended to keep the cost per foot at a minimum. The size of our long-hole drill relative to the low ceiling above the tunnel has necessitated the drilling to be done on a much steeper angle than would otherwise be optimal, and after several weeks it has become clear that this inefficiency has caused the cost per foot to be much more than planned. Accordingly, we are considering having the work done by a drilling contractor to save the Company money on a cost per foot basis, as well as to get the work done in a timelier manner.
We also report that while the raise work and drilling has been ongoing, a second bulk sample of gravels mined from the White Channel was processed, resulting in 24.88 grams of gold recovered from a 60 ton stockpile. This is a considerable improvement over the results from our first bulk sample, and while not yet economical, it is far more encouraging. After the Big Bend raise is completed, we will consider returning to the White Channel to see if the grade continues to improve upon further exploration.
In other news, the Company is pleased to announce that an additional 57 acres of placer claims has been staked adjacent to the northern border of the Ruby property to consolidate our ownership of the mineral rights surrounding what is believed to be a surface outcrop and extension of the Ruby's Cincinnati Channel. The total size of the property has thus been expanded to 2,312 contiguous acres.
Source: http://www.northbayresources.com