Still grappling with startup problems at its wholly- owned Johnny Mountain mine in the Iskut River area of British Columbia, Skyline Explorations (TSE) may be starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
The Vancouver company increased its production in November to 2,804 oz gold, 5,409 oz silver and 59,976 lb copper. Mill throughput averaged 227 tons per day and gold recoveries during November averaged 77%, Skyline said.
As a result of some modifications to the mill, gold and silver production continued to improve in December. In the first 10 days of December the company produced 1,386 oz gold, 2,894 oz silver and 32,676 lb copper.
Average daily throughput has increased to 259 tons per day and gold recoveries have also climbed to 83%. Final modifications to the mill are expected to be completed early in the new year.
According to Skyline, the recent production increases have coincided with some drill results which appear to confirm the extension of ore grade mineralization with high grade ore shoots below the 10th level.
Designed to test the continuity of Vein 16 below the 10th level and along strike to the east, the drill program produced the following results: Hole U-416 included 3 m of grade 0.278 oz gold per ton at the 1097 elevation. Hole U-507 intersected 2 m of grade 1.753 oz at the 1050 level. Hole U-418 pulled 2 m of grade 0.776 oz at the 1050 level.
Start up problems at Johnny Mountain have been due to lack of expertise in dealing with new mining situations and large variances in mining widths.
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