Officials at Dragon Mining have announced drilling expansion plans for their Svartliden gold mine in Sweden, having discovered further deposits 4 km north of the current mining area. Testing is under way by Dragon, although rights belong to a different company, Botnia Exploration Ltd.; Botnia, in turn, is instead concentrating on the Vindelgransele for gold findings.
Australia-headquartered Dragon Mining officials said they have agreed to gradually assume handling investigation costs; the discovery may extend the Svartliden mine’s current life-span.
The Svartliden Production Center, dating to 2005, lies in northern Sweden, 700 km north of Stockholm and west of the world-class Skellefte Mining District. It is the first integrated mine and treatment plant developed under the new Swedish Environment and Mining Acts. By Q2 2013, it had produced more than 320,000 gold oz.
Ore is sourced from the Svartliden gold deposit mined by open-cut and underground methods, with material processed through a conventional carbon in leach plant with a 300,000-metric tons per year capacity.
