Hudbay has new plans for the 1901 project near Snow Lake, but anyone hoping the project will be a saving grace for Flin Flon facilities will be disappointed.
The company provided an update on the project, located around the former Chisel Lake mine site south of Snow Lake, including changes to the project resource.
“The goal of the drill program was to upgrade the confidence of the inferred base metal resource to an indicated resource and to sufficiently define the gold lenses to declare an inferred resource. I am happy to say that the exploration program achieved these goals,” said Hudbay Manitoba Business Unit vice-president Rob Assabgui in an update sent to employees and obtained by The Reminder August 12.
According to the company’s latest results, the 1901 deposit base metal resource has grown, with measured and indicated resource estimates equalling the first tonnage announced for the site last year. While zinc grades are lower than first thought by 12 per cent, gold grades at the site are more than four times as high as first thought, finding a new gold zone with an inferred estimate of 500,000 tonnes at 6.8 grams per ton.
In total, total gold resources at 1901 have gone from an estimated 58,000 ounces to 259,000 ounces - nearly four and a half times more than previously theorized.
“There are an additional 400 thousand tonnes of inferred resources in the base metal zone that has the potential to be upgraded with further drilling,” reads the update.
“The 1901 deposit further advances our gold strategy and a decision to develop the deposit would extend our mining and milling operations in Snow Lake.”
Next for the site will be a prefeasibility study to determine whether or not mining the site will be economically viable, with an eye on declaring a reserve in early 2021.
Back in March, a coalition of Flin Flon-area unions levelled allegations of Hudbay misdirecting employees and investors on the company’s intentions with the 1901 deposit. Union officials alleged they had been told the project could be a similar size to the now-defunct Reed mine and supply zinc plant operations in Flin Flon until 2025 if fast-tracked into production. Development at the site later slowed and lesser results than expected were initially found.
While the 1901 deposit could provide a boost for Flin Flon-area Hudbay operations in theory, the project is unlikely to change anything with the company’s local plans, to shut down 777 mine, the zinc plant and oxygen plant in early 2022. The 1901 project would require at least two years to develop before any mining can begin, pending the results of the prefeasibility study.
As well, the company’s plans for processing any ore from the 1901 site, if mining proves feasible, would be to fit the work into production plans at facilities in Snow Lake - namely the Stall concentrator and the New Britannia mill.
Another winter exploration program is slated for the 1901 site in early 2021.
“It is anticipated that it would take over two years to develop the 1901 deposit, prior to the start of mining. The decision to restart the development program towards 1901 deposit will not be made until the 1901 prefeasibility study is completed in the first half of 2021,” said Assabgui in the update.
“As a result of the limited ZPL tailings storage availability and the lack of zinc concentrate from Lalor mine, the zinc plant closure is still planned for 2022, concurrently with 777 mine closure.“
