Agnico’s Telbel shaft back to norman

With operations at its Telbel shaft now back to normal and its 32%- owned Dumagami Mines (TSE) subsidiary coming on strongly, Agnico- Eagle Mines’ (TSE) Paul Penna is breathing much easier these days.

The Telbel problem stemmed from a section of incompetent rock formation between the 1,300-1,600 ft horizons, which put severe pressure on the shaft timbers in that area of the 4,000-ft Telbel shaft. This required some pretty heavy maintenance. In fact no ore was hoisted for a 4-week period, which cut production sharply.

But shaft repairs have been completed and 1,200 tons are now coming up the Telbel shaft daily. Grade, too, is back to normal, running slightly better than 0.20 oz gold per ton.

“We are not worried. We had the same problem in the No 1 shaft,” W. A. Hubacheck, the company’s senior operating consultant told The Northern Miner.

That original shaft, which ex- tends to a depth of 2,900 ft and serves as a service opening, will likely be deepened, as some new ore is being found in that area.

The new 2,000 ton mill at Dumagami, which started up in June, is now operating at its full designed capacity. November’s throughput averaged 1,966 tons daily, treating 5,900 tons in the month with an average grade of 0.l05 oz and recovery of 5,430 oz.

Bulk of this mill feed came from the company’s low grade open pit operation, where grade was forecast at 0.09 oz.

Less than 25% of the mill feed is presently coming from underground, with the over-all grade expected to rise smartly as the percentage of underground ore climbs.

However open pit mining will continue through the winter as management wants to keep the mill operating at the full 2,000 ton rate.

Tonnage implications at this new underground mine are looking particularly promising, it is gathered. So much so, in fact, that management is already studying the feasibility of putting down a new and larger shaft, with a view to doubling mill capacity to 4,000 tons daily.

“We want to be in a position to take advantage of any higher gold prices,” says Penna. “We are not negative on gold. That’s why we never sell our production ahead.”

During the period the Telbel shaft was out of service, Agnico utilized the mill at Joutel to treat a bulk sample of close to 50,000 tons of underground ore from its Goldex Mines (TSE) operation at Malartic.

This has now all been run through, with the circuit now being cleaned. “We are working on the figures. The ounces produced will dictate our next stage of development,” says Penna, adding “and there will be a next stage.”

Goldex spent $1.3 million on underground exploration-development during the past quarter, but still had $2.7 million cash on hand.

The low price of silver has put a slowdown on Agnico’s operations at Cobalt. But milling there will continue through the winter, drawing underground ore already broken. This should last through April at which time the mill be closed until the price of the white metal rises.

During the past quarter the silver division produced 295,384 oz from 15,556 tons of ore. Although the average recovered grade was 6 oz higher than the same period last year, the price of silver was lower by 88 and costs up, resulting in an operating loss of $200,000.

However, underground exploration will continue, with emphasis to focus on the Langis project where a 3,000 ft exploration drive will be pushed out from the recently completed Penna shaft.