Brigus Gold is moving closer to commercial production from its underground mining operations at the Black Fox Mine. Located 75 km east of Timmins, Ontario the mine construction was recently completed with the construction of the ventilation and service raise last month. Other underground services are in the final stages of commissioning.
Exploration at the Contact Zone has returned good results with high grade assay over significant width. The Contact Zone is part of the Black Fox Mine which is 100% owned by Brigus Gold. The Black Fox Mine is spread over 18 square kilometers located in the Timmins Mining District in Ontario. The Contact Zone is situated three kilometers within the Black Fox Mine.
Vice President of Exploration at Brigus Gold, Howard Bird said that the drill results at the Contact Zone were particularly encouraging due to the high grade gold mineralization spread over wide intervals. The exploration programs will also be testing other targets in the region this year.
Iron ore mining and production is expected to commence at the open pit around March 15, 2011. The existing stockpiles will be processed at a rate of 2,000 tonnes per day at the Black Fox Mill. The construction of the underground facility should be finished by March and will help to ramp up the production output from the mine from 250 tonnes per day to 800 tonnes per day. The mine has seen 41 new miners being hired this year for the underground work force. By middle of the year it hopes to be fully staffed and up to its full production capacity.