A BREAKNECK PACE S-3 Mine

Rarely is a mining company able to start up two gold mines successfully within the span of only four months. Campbell Resources has done just that, with the Joe Mann and S-3 mines in the Chibougamau camp of northwestern Quebec. The S-3 began producing the yellow metal in January of last year, a few months before the Joe Mann started up. Reserves at S-3 are 474,024 tons grading 0.159 oz gold and 0.46% copper. Campbell reported last May that initial grade was slightly lower than projected, but production has exceeded the scheduled 500-ton-per- day rate.

The outlined orebody lies below Lake Chibougamau and is accessible by way of the Henderson 1 shaft on Portage Island, an artificial mound of rock about 5,000 ft from the nearest shoreline. The orebody lies near the top of the north limb of the anorthosite of the Dore Lake Complex and is bounded by the ne Mackenzie narrows fault to the west, the ne Tache Lake fault to the east and the nw Royran Sher to the south. The result is a highly faulted complex with many secondary faults, shears and fractures.

The host rock is a relatively fresh anorthosite, lightly to moderately sheared, weakly sericitic with some 10% carbonate and minor amounts of chlorite. Associated with, and in proximity to, the mineralization are numerous dikes of acidic to basic composition. Structurally, the orebody divides into two distinct domains:

* the West zone, the ore found on the hangingwall of the Main Fault, and by coincidence the lenses west of the main crosscut; and

* the East zone, including the 10-19 and several other gold-bearing structures east of the main crosscut and on the footwall of the Main Fault. The zones differ mineralogically and in attitude. One vein strikes south- southwest and dips 57-90 degrees to the southeast; the other vein strikes south- southeast and dips to the southwest. S-3 Notebook Location: ……. Chibougamau, Que. Major owners: ……. Camchib Mines (wholly-owned subsidiary of Campbell Resources), 90%, and Norwich Resources, 9.6% Commodities: ……. gold, silver, copper Discovery date: ……. 1956 Production decision: ……. June, 1986 Start-up: ……. Jan 1, 1987 Capital costs: ……. $17.7 million Operating costs: ……. $63.62 per ton (mining, development, milling, administration, marketing) Reserves: ……. 474,024 tons at 0.19 oz gold and 0.46% copper (proven and probable — diluted, as at Dec 31, 1986) Means of access: ……. a rectangular shaft section with four compartments to a depth of 1,155 ft Extent of vertical workings: ……. bottom operating level: 1,025 ft Mining method: ……. long-hole Mining equipment: * track with four 1/2 -ton locos and 7-ton mine cars Production rate: ……. 500 tons per day (planned) Milling plan: ……. muck trucked to Camchib mill, 11 miles from the minesite Major contractors: ……. Morissette Diamond Drilling Status: ……. production

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** A BREAKNECK PACE **

** Beaver Dam ** Seabright Resources’ success in Nova Scotia is a Cinderella story — buying a mill worth $26 million, for $3.5 million, and transforming it from a lead/zinc mill to a 1,000-ton-per-day custom milling facility for the plethora of small gold mining properties in the province. Since June of last year, Seabright has been processing a series of ore batch samples from its two mine properties at Beaver Dam and Forest Hill (see separate stories). The bulk of that ore has come from development muck on these two properties. But an additional 10,000 tons has been mined from the upper portion of the ore body at Beaver Dam, where some 20,000 tons will be mined by open pit methods over the coming months.

By then, the company will know which mining method will be most appropriate to best exploit the orebody from underground, where there is an estimated three million tons of 0.27-oz material. At the time of writing, the company was attempting to develop production stopes in the wider portions of the orebody where low-cost blasthole mining could be performed. At a cost of about $18 million to bring into production, this mine should be capable of producing at a rate of 400 tons per day by late 1988.

Access is provided by a single decline. Beaver Dam Notebook Location: ……. 70 km east of Gays River, Halifax Cty, N.S. Major owners: ……. Seabright Resources (Acadia Minerals retains a net smelter return) Commodity: ……. gold Discovery date: ……. unavailable Production decision: ……. January, 1987 (feasibility study) Start-up: ……. late 1988 Capital costs: ……. $18 million Operating costs: ……. $76(C) per tonne or $210(US) per oz Reserves: ……. 2.95 million tons grading 0.27 oz gold per ton Mining method: ……. Blasthole, cut-and-fill and shrinkage Mining equipment: ……. jacklegs, stopers, 2-cu-yd scoops, 1-cu-yd scoop, three JDT 413 (13-ton) trucks and two MJM 20B jumbos Production rate: ……. 700 tonnes per day Milling: ……. Ore trucked 70 km to Gays River mill Major contractors: ……. MPH Consulting (ore reserves), J.S. Redpath Ltd. (mine feasibility and development), Kilborn Engi neering (metallurgical) Status ……. preproduction