Whitehorse Daily Star

Image title

Photo by Whitehorse Star

John McConnell

Eagle Gold Mine progressing well

The ramp-up at the Eagle Gold Mine is about 75 per cent complete, and all major equipment is working fine, says John McConnell of the Victoria Gold Corp.

By Chuck Tobin on November 29, 2019

The ramp-up at the Eagle Gold Mine is about 75 per cent complete, and all major equipment is working fine, says John McConnell of the Victoria Gold Corp.

McConnell told those attending last week’s Yukon Geoscience Forum the operation should reach commercial production in the spring.

They’re already moved 1.9 million tonnes of paydirt to the leach pad, he said, adding they’re looking at hitting three million tonnes by the end of the year.

The Eagle Gold Mine is located north of Mayo. It poured its first gold on Sept. 17. The company has sold 10,400 ounces of gold and 1,600 ounces of silver so far.

McConnell reminded the audience it’s expected the Eagle mine will produce approximately 200,000 ounces of gold annually.

Their production cost is at US $750, he said. Gold was selling for US $1,461 an ounce on Tuesday.

“This little company in full production will be cash flowing over $100 million per year,” the company president told the audience.

McConnell said what he is most proud of is the safety record.

“We have one lost time accident since we started construction in April of 2018,” he said. “Since then, we have 1.8 million hours without a second lost time accident.”

Exploration on the property is ongoing and the company has identified 12 favourable targets, McConnell said.

McConnell told the audience when the mine is fully ramped up, it will have approximately 400 on the payroll working two weeks in and two weeks out.

The Eagle mine is a common heap-leach operation. Ore from the open pit is crushed and placed on a pad. Cyanide is poured over the heap to leach out the gold and is then recaptured.

Comments (3)

Up 16 Down 3

My Opinion on Dec 2, 2019 at 1:00 pm

@David
Do you say that about SuperStore, Walmart, Canadian Tire? They do not leave all their money here. That is not the way it works. You could be a shareholder of the mine if you wish.
This project puts that much again in our economy in wages, payroll taxes, huge local purchases.

Please do not be against everything. A lot of people rely on these jobs. Where do you work? Government maybe????

Up 8 Down 15

David on Dec 2, 2019 at 10:47 am

"cash flowing over $100 million per year" - I would be very, very curious to see how much of that actually stays in the Yukon and contributes to its economy.

Up 18 Down 21

Oh dear.... on Nov 29, 2019 at 11:21 pm

I mean... no.
That site is a chaotic nightmare. They just blew up a boiler required to keep pouring gold, because people don't know how to operate the equipment. No one seems to know much of anything, in fact.

Good times ahead.

Add your comments or reply via Twitter @whitehorsestar

In order to encourage thoughtful and responsible discussion, website comments will not be visible until a moderator approves them. Please add comments judiciously and refrain from maligning any individual or institution. Read about our user comment and privacy policies.

Your name and email address are required before your comment is posted. Otherwise, your comment will not be posted.