Ontario’s first high-grade gold mine in more than a decade is about to start commercial production, junior miner Harte Gold said this week, announcing that it has received the necessary permits to mine, process ore and pour gold on site.
The permitting of the Sugar Zone mine has been a lengthy process and shareholders in the TSX-listed company reacted positively to the permitting news, with stock gaining 17% on Friday to C$0.46 a share.
The completion of permitting marks the start of commercial mining operations, which will run for 12 years and will support further resource expansion drilling in the vicinity of the mine.
The project contains an indicated mineral resource of 2.60-million tonnes, grading 8.52 g/t for 714 200 oz of contained gold and an inferred resource of 3.59-million tonnes, grading 6.59 g/t for 760 800 oz of contained gold.
The company reported that it continued to review and refine its mine plan for Sugar Zone.
Harte Gold has completed a 70 000 t advanced exploration bulk sample, mined 30 000 t under a Phase 1 commercial production permit and has built an 800 t/d processing plant at Sugar Zone.
The mine will employ nearly 200 people, which Premier Doug Ford said in a statement underlined that Ontario’s north was open for business.