Alamos Gold has announced new results from surface and underground exploration drilling at its Island Gold mine in Ontario, further extending high-grade gold mineralization beyond existing mineral resources in all three areas of focus. The 2019 drilling program focused on further expanding the down-plunge and lateral extensions of the Island Gold deposit, with the objective of adding near-mine mineral resources across the 2-kilometer (km)-long Island Gold Main Zone.
The program has been successful in extending high-grade gold mineralization across all three areas of focus: Main, Western and Eastern extensions.
Alamos President and CEO John A. McCluskey said, “We had another exceptional year at Island Gold operationally, financially and through the drill bit. The operation produced 150,400 ounces (oz) of gold in 2019, achieving a new record for the fifth consecutive year, and set a new record for free cash flow.
“With the ongoing exploration success, we expect further growth in Island Gold’s mineral reserves and resources with our year-end update. This growth will be incorporated into the Phase III expansion study that we plan to complete during the second quarter of 2020. We expect this study will showcase a larger, extremely profitable, long-life operation,”
A total of $21 million has been budgeted in 2020 for surface and underground exploration at Island Gold, an increase from the 2019 budget of $19 million. The focus remains on continuing to define new near-mine mineral resources. The 2020 budget includes 46,000 m of surface directional drilling, 30,000 m of underground exploration drilling, and 900 m of underground exploration development to extend drill platforms on the mine’s 340, 620, 790 and 840 levels.
A regional exploration program that includes 10,000 m of drilling is also planned in 2020, focused on evaluating and advancing exploration targets outside the main Island Gold mine area on the 9,750-ha Island Gold property.
(www.alamosgold.com)
