Midway Gold announced that construction at its Pan gold mine in Nevada is nearly complete and first gold production is expected by the end of March.
Some milestones include: on February 7, after six days of irrigation, initial breakthrough of fresh water that had been cycled through the pad was realized; as of the end of February, 3.1 million tons of ore have been placed on the heap-leach pad; and 2 million tons of ore are currently being irrigated with solution flows to the leach pad at approximately 14% of capacity, as the system ramps up to the design of 5,000 gpm.
“While we have encountered some delays, we continue to make good progress and construction of our Pan gold project is now 93% complete,” said Bill Zisch, Midway president and CEO.
Jacobs Field Services has been contracted to support commissioning of the process facilities and has moved beyond delays associated with the loss of one of the water wells. In addition, Midway has secured temporary local occupancy permits that allow it to begin operation of the ADR (Adsorption/Desorption Recovery) plant, he said.
“We expect to begin leaching with cyanide this week and estimate that we will be able to produce gold approximately 20 days following the application of cyanide solution,” Zisch said. “We are excited to become a new producing company this month. Generation of revenue from Pan will mark the culmination of a great deal of collective efforts over the past several years.”
