A mining project located about 60 kilometres west of Flin Flon has made another step towards development.
The McIlvenna Bay project, owned by Vancouver-based Foran Mining Corporation, has announced final results from a resource definition drill pro-gram conducted last summer. According to a company press release, the results showed “unqualified success.” Company CEO and president Patrick Soares said engineering and metallurgical studies are underway at McIlvenna Bay, with Foran slated to deliver results from a feasibility study for the site next year.
The site of the project is on the south shore of Hanson Lake, about 80 to 90 kilometres away via Highway 106 from Flin Flon and Creighton. Foran owns a 100 per cent interest in the mine site, which covers more than 20,000 hectares. The company also owns the Hanson and Balsam properties, both southeast of the McIlvenna Bay area.
“I guess with the project itself, we are just starting the feasibility level work, working on upgrading the resources, getting all that together,” vice-president of project exploration for Foran, Roger March, said about the McIlvenna Bay project.
March detailed the next steps for the property, saying that some assay results and data compilation relating to the project are still being processed. A revised resource for the site is in the works. Once resources are in hand, the company can proceed with further engineering work and looking into potential production.
“The feasibility study is scheduled to be completed in 2019 and at that time, we’ll have a much better idea of how things are looking. We’ll have to make some decisions at that point,” he said.
By 2020, the revised resource of the property should be done, said March.
“Once that’s in hand, then we can start looking at a more detailed mine plan and look at where we might be with mineable reserves and that kind of thing. Once we figure out where that is, we’ll see if we need any additional drilling or anything like that to happen to move forward.”
March is excited about some of the results from the site, but is careful to not show too much glee.
“You’ve got to be careful about expectations. I wouldn’t want to promise the moon and have it turn out that it doesn’t work. The mining business is a little bit that way. Lots of people promise a move and it doesn’t end up working out. To temper the expectations, I suppose, is the safe approach. We’re quite hopeful that it will come together,” said March.
“We’re certainly very excited about it. It’s one of those projects that’s been around for a long time and for whatever reason, it just hasn’t made it to the endpoint. We’re hopeful that, at this point, we’ll get it there.”
Foran has also looked into how a potential mine at McIlvenna Bay could make use of Flin Flon. March said the company had considered the fact that some Flin Flon-based professionals may be looking for work if Hudbay shuts down most Flin Flon operations in 2021, as the company announced last month.
“If we can get to the point of a positive decision to go ahead, then we would need staff and all of those people who may potentially be out of a job in Flin Flon would be possibly something for employment. We’re 65 kilometres in a straight line from Flin Flon – it’s certainly within driving range,” said March.
“As these things go, once you get the feasibility done and you make a decision, get the financing in place and construction, that all takes time. The timing might work out quite well for us.”
