Officials at Veris Gold Corp. have announced the opening of Starvation Canyon, the No. 3 gold-producing mine entering production at their Jerritt Canyon Operations in Nevada, operated by the 100%-owned subsidiary, Veris Gold USA Inc.
In the southern part of the Jerritt Canyon property in Elko County, Starvation Canyon is the first gold mine that has come into production there since 2004. Initial underground work, portal excavation and drift development, according to Veris officials, started in Q4 2012, and continued through early Q2 2013.
Veris Gold CEO R. Llee Chapman was grateful for “major” progress. “Six months from blasting the portal to production on-time and on-budget is no small feat, and this mine has performed better than expected right from the start,” he said.
Starvation Canyon will be operated by small mine development similar to underground methods being used at the other Veris mines—Smith and SSX-Steer.
As of April 8, according to the company, Starvation Canyon had 300 ore tons averaging 0.15 oz per ton and, since June, has ramped up to 600 tons per day. Starvation Canyon is essential to the 2013 plan for Jerritt Canyon Operations, and is expected to exceed 25,000 oz. The Starvation Canyon deposit discovery was announced in Q4 2004, 18 months after a predecessor company acquired the Jerritt Canyon property from AngloGold Ashanti and Meridian in 2003, and following completion of a drilling program.
Veris Gold is a mid-tier North American gold producer with primary assets including the Jerritt Canyon mill and gold mines 50 miles north of Elko, Nevada. Veris’ primary focus is re-development of the Jerritt Canyon mining and milling facility. The company also holds properties in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, including the former producing Ketza River mine.
