Location and Access
The Mon Gold Property consists of 13 contiguous mining leases covering 494.28 hectares and one mineral claim covering 127.75 hectares, located about 45 kilometres north of Yellowknife. Personnel, food and materials are provided through the combination of float or ski-equipped aircraft and helicopter from the City of Yellowknife, about 15 minutes flying time south. A winter road provides access for fuel and other heavy or bulky materials from Yellowknife via the Bluefish Hydro-Electric Dam, 20 km south of the Property.
Ownership
Sixty North Gold Mining Ltd. has a 100% interest in the Mon Gold Property, including leases and claims, permits, equipment and inventories, subject to a 2% net smelter returns royalty.
New Discovery Mines Ltd. (NDM), a private company owned and controlled by David Webb, Ph.D., P. Geol., P. Eng., the President & CEO of Sixty North Gold, is the Manager of the Project and Sixty North Gold is the Operator.
Permits
NDM obtained Land Use Permit # MV2020C0003 and Water Licence MV2020L2-0002 to restart the mine at 100 tpd. The permits allow all listed exploration and development work including the installation of camp and related infrastructure, mine shops and related mine infrastructure to allow for diamond drilling and underground development and mining. In addition, these permit NDM to install and operate a 100 tpd gravity plus flotation mill, related infrastructure, roads and tailings containment facility on a limited total volume of material moved basis before renewal of the permit is required.
History
A high-grade quartz vein was discovered in 1937 by prospectors working for Cominco Limited during an aerial reconnaissance flight north of Yellowknife. In 1988 the Property was optioned by Cominco to David R. Webb. Between 1991 and 1997 the mine was in operation on a summer only basis, with a total reported production of 3,100 ounces of gold from 10,000 tons of ore for a calculated recovered grade of 10.63 gpt for royalty purposes. In total, it is estimated that 15,000 ounces of gold were recovered from 15,000 tonnes of ore contained in 15 m of elevation from the west limb (West Stope) and 15 m of elevation from 15 to 20 m of strike-length on the east limb (East Stope). Since the Mon Mine closure in 1997, due to gold prices falling below US$300 per ounce to a low of $US287/ounce, no surface exploration or mining was done at the Mon Gold Property until October, 2016. These are historical results and are only reported for completeness, and this information cannot be verified and should not be relied upon.
Geology
The Mon deposit is an Archean, turbidite-hosted, stratabound, non-stratiform quartz shear/vein deposit and as such has substantial potential. The deposit is described as an anticlinally-folded quartz vein, plunging to the south at around 20 to 40 degrees. The higher gold grades at the fold nose are consistent over the mined length of 75 meters (open to south), with lower grade gold values being found in the limbs of the structure. Fundamentally, the production records show that the previous operators were able to successfully follow the interpreted mineralized structure and obtain gold grades that are representative of the sampling done.
The Mon Gold Property is underlain by igneous rocks assigned to the Kam and Banting Group, and clastic sedimentary rocks assigned to the Burwash Group. Early mafic and felsic igneous rocks intrude all rocks, and late felsic intrusions occur to the west of the property. All rocks have been metamorphosed to, between, greenschist and amphibolite facies.
The overall size, grade and form of the mineralization as well as its host rock assemblage is similar to the Discovery Mine (located 50 km to the north) where 1 million tons of ore were mined and 1 million ounces of gold were recovered between 1949 and 1969. There are no known resources or reserves on the Mon Gold Property and the presence of mineral deposits on properties adjacent to or in close proximity to the Mon Gold Property is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Mon Gold Property. The mineralization identified in the A-Zone appears to be a viable exploration target for a “Discovery Mine” type of deposit.
No mineral resource nor mineral reserve estimations have been completed by Sixty North Gold Mining Ltd.
Completed Work Programs
- Verification continuous chip samples (2016) at the mouth of the central adit (crown pillar) in the former-producing A-Zone averaged grades of 147g/t of gold over 3 m (see NI 43-101 report Dupre and Fitzpatrick, 2017).
- Sixty North Gold and NDM conducted a 5-hole, 378.9 m drilling campaign in 2016 that confirmed mineralization below the mined-out stopes on the A-Zone. All drill holes intersected the A-Zone at target depths.
- Mechanized trenching 2017 of the A-Zone crown pillar showed samples ranging in grade from 1.2 gpt gold over 0.90m to 688 gpt gold over 0.50m.
- Metallurgical testing with a simple gravity and flotation mill circuit yielded recoveries averaging 98.8%.
- Mining equipment, camp, and bulk supplies were delived to site in March 2021 via winter road, and the Company opened the North Portal and rehabilitated 125 m of ramp, exposing three sections of the high-grade A-Zone vein.
- Additional fuel, explosives, a second fuel tank, and other equipment were delivered to site on the winter road in March 2022.
Development Plans 2024 and Beyond
- Maintain Mon Property tenures.
- Maintain operational licenses, develop and maintain regulatory management plans.
- Mobilize mining and support crew to the property. Each shift rotation of 6 weeks of 12 hr shifts seven days a week followed by 2 weeks out of camp to consist of:
- One mine manager
- One geologist or geologist/engineer
- One heavy duty mechanic
- A minimum of one and up to two, two-man teams of experienced miners
- One cook medic
- One general labourer
- One or two raise miners may be added later in the program
- One diamond driller may be added later in the program.
- Operations will include:
- Ten days to prepare for mining to commence. Set up temporary camp, general maintenance, reset the portal, fans and supply lines, ventilate to clear ice build up.
- Each two-man mining crew can advance the main ramp 15 meters per week (drill, load, blast, muck, bolt)
- Initial target of 70 m advance will take up to 5 weeks with a single two-man mining team, or 2.5 weeks with second shift. An additional 130 meters of ramp development is possible.
- Up to eight, 10 m long scram drifts will be driven into the A-Zone vein, initially at 20 m centres with additional scram drifts to be installed as determined.
- Up to four 1.5 x 1.5 m raises will be installed at +55o within the vein to elevation 222 m AMSL on the western limb of the vein, or elevation 213 m on the eastern limb of the vein, commencing as deep as elevation 190 m AMSL.
- Ore chutes will be installed where appropriate, and undercuts on each stope that is defined may be installed. Up to three stopes will be developed.
- Mineralized rock from the installation of the scram drifts, raises, and stope development (undercuts) will be brought to surface and stockpiled for processing.
- Each stope undercut will yield 8 tonnes +/- of quartz vein per meter developed. Miners can advance 1 m per day. A total of 120 m of stope development is possible.
- Each raise will yield 120 tonnes +/- of quartz vein
- Each scram drift will yield 30 tonnes +/- of quartz vein
- Environmental and regulatory sampling will include;
- Surveillance Network Protocol (SNP) water sampling
- Waste Rock and Geochemical Sampling
- Installation and maintenance of thermistors into a minimum of 4 locations
- Preparation and submission of amended Community Consultation Plan
- Preparation and submission of amended Baseline Sampling Plan
- Preparation and submission of amended Groundwater and Water Management Plan
- Preparation of and submission of amended Tailings Management Plan
- Other preparations and submissions as requested by regulatory organization.
- Post 2024 mine development program
- Contract 2025 winter road installation and operation
- Acquisition, transport and commissioning of mill
- Purchase and transport of bulk supplies diesel, propane, lubricants, lumber, explosives
- Diamond drill A-Zone below developed area, to elevation 120m AMSL to confirm development plans for the next level (60 m and 90 m holes). This will enable planning for the next 35 m levels.