Apr 13 2017
Osisko Mining Inc. ("Osisko" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has identified a site (the "Site") covering approximately four square kilometres for the potential construction of a mill complex that would process mineralized material from the Windfall Lake deposit. The Site is located near an existing industrial property (the former Domtar Corporation pulp and paper mill) in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Québec. A location map of the Site is provided at www.osiskomining.com.
Osisko intends to evaluate the Site location through the environmental assessment process and in the preparation of a feasibility study for the Windfall Lake gold project. The Site is located 11 kilometres from Lebel-sur-Quévillon and 103 kilometres via existing all-weather gravel road networks from the Windfall Lake deposit, and is adjacent to a Hydro-Québec electric substation and a water pumping station. The Site is located on Crown land immediately southeast of the municipal limit of Lebel-sur-Quévillon. Osisko holds the mineral exploration titles under the Site.
As part of the ongoing evaluation of the Windfall Lake deposit, Osisko plans to file the Project Description with the federal government (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) and the Project Notice with the Québec government (Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques) in the coming week.
Subject to the results of the full environmental assessment and feasibility study to be completed, the Corporation believes advantages of this Site over construction at Windfall Lake include:
- limiting Windfall Lake infrastructure to mining activity, greatly reducing the environmental footprint;
- access to existing grid power and the Hydro-Québec electrical substation at the Site, eliminating the construction cost of a 103 kilometre power line to Windfall Lake and the corresponding environmental permitting along the power corridor;
- access to the existing water pumping station near the adjacent dormant pulp and paper mill, which has ample capacity for the needs of a potential gold milling complex;
- access to the regional work force centered at Lebel-sur-Quévillon, reducing the need for a large construction and operations camp at Windfall Lake, as well as a reduced rotational work force;
- cost savings on transportation and construction/operations logistics from existing rail and road access to Lebel-sur-Quévillon, which is expected to offset the cost of transportation of mineralized material from the mine over the existing 103 kilometres of road networks; and
- the location of the Site positively affecting the economics of gold deposits within trucking distance of Lebel-sur-Quévillon.
John Burzynski, President and CEO of Osisko commented: "Identifying this site near Lebel-sur-Quévillon dynamically changes the way we are evaluating the potential infrastructure for Windfall, including the mill complex, personnel accommodations, administration buildings and tailings management facility. Lebel-sur-Quévillon appears to have many strong advantages over Windfall and we believe the potential savings to both capex and opex would be significant."
The Corporation is currently evaluating the Windfall Lake gold project as a potential underground mining operation. Osisko is well-funded with approximately $190 million in cash and equity investments, and is carrying out an intensive definition drilling and large-scale exploration campaign on Windfall and the surrounding area. An updated NI 43-101 resource estimate on the Windfall Lake project is planned for release in the second half of 2017. Osisko has commenced collection of environmental baseline data in the vicinity of Windfall and intends to collect additional data along the potential haul road and around the proposed Site.
The Quévillon exploration property acquisitions and agreement recently announced (see Osisko press releases dated March 6, 2017 and March 15, 2017) include approximately thirty known gold showings as well as the Osborne-Bell gold deposit, which is located 32 kilometres northwest of the proposed Site. The Osborne-Bell deposit has been the object of significant historical drilling over the past fifteen years, and will be the focus of new drilling and resource re-evaluation by Osisko in 2017.
Mr. Burzynski continued: "Over the past 14 years, the Osisko team has always been innovative. The world-class Canadian Malartic mine was discovered, defined, financed, built and put in production, from first drill hole to first gold pour, in a little over six years, a remarkable achievement for our team. We are highly encouraged by the potential at Windfall and the potential of the region. With the possibility of centralizing a new milling complex at Lebel-sur-Quévillon, we believe we may be opening up the region to a new generation of Québec mines, and at the same time securing Osisko's position as a new Canadian intermediate mining house."
Source: http://www.osiskomining.com/