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Company eyes mine restart in 2018

PL mine outside Flin Flon would employ upwards of 100 people

A long-idle gold mine could be back in production outside Flin Flon as early as the summer or fall of next year.

That’s the best-case scenario for Minnova Corporation, which owns the PL mine – formerly the Puffy Lake mine – near Sherridon.

And it’s a scenario that Gorden Glenn, president and CEO of Minnova, finds more than plausible.

“I’m actually pretty optimistic on the best-case scenario,” he said in a phone interview last week.

While no decision to restart PL has been made, Minnova is working on several fronts to achieve that goal in August or September of 2018. The mine has a projected lifespan of about 10 years.

Since PL is already permitted, the timeline from production decision to actual production is estimated at 12 months or less. The project also benefits from an on-site gold mill that Glenn said is in very good condition despite being nearly three decades old.

Minnova is actively seeking the estimated $29 million to $30 million worth of investment needed to reopen the mine and mill.

Glenn is optimistic about discussions to raise about $25 million from investors, adding an equity component could make up the remainder of the cost.

“We’re attracting the interest to get it done,” he said.

Minnova has also commissioned a feasibility study set for completion in August. The study will follow up on three preliminary economic assessments (PEAs) completed between 2011 and 2015.

The PEAs showed the mine would be “massively profitable” and make about $100 million over the course of its life, said Glenn, who expects further  good news from the more rigorous feasibility study.

Minnova’s plan is to mine about 45,000 ounces of gold per year at PL, though Glenn said that number could rise to 55,000 or 60,000 ounces based on additional discoveries.

Reopening PL – shuttered since a brief run in 1988 and 1989 – would be a major economic shot in the arm for the Flin Flon region.

Minnova estimates the project would require 100 to 120 workers for the start-up phase and upwards of 100 workers during the production years.

Glenn said the company would hire available skilled and unskilled workers from communities in the region, including Flin Flon and Snow Lake.

The mine would see employees stay at an on-site camp and work a two weeks on, two weeks off schedule, he said.

While PL is accessible year-round via the Sherridon road, Minnova is interested in contracting Keewatin Railway to transport workers to and from the site by rail.

Glenn envisions a monitored parking lot near the Highway 10 rail crossing just outside Cranberry Portage. Workers would park their vehicles before catching the train to the mine.

Why go through the effort? Glenn considers the drive between PL and
Flin Flon – about 95 to 110 minutes – too long for a commute and notes the Sherridon road is occasionally not navigable.

Talk of restarting PL has been ongoing for the past several years, but Glenn noted investor confidence in gold projects was weak between 2012 and 2015.

That changed in early 2016, he said, when an improved gold outlook saw investors pump money first into senior gold producers and later into junior companies like Minnova, which took in just over $4 million.

With the new funding in hand, the Toronto-based Minnova has been busy at PL this year, drilling new holes and reviewing past exploration results. The PL deposit remains open, meaning there is potential for further growth in gold output beyond the projected 10-year supply.

A promising side story to PL is the Nokomis gold deposit, situated eight kilometres outside the idle mine site. Like the PL deposit, it remains open.

While Nokomis is not part of the current mine plan, Glenn said there’s “no doubt” it will work its way into the plan. The deposit would be mined separately from PL but its ore would go to the same mill.

“We’ve got growth in our back pocket,” said Glenn.

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