U.S. REPORT Targets exceeded at Champagne mine

Since the startup of the Champagne mine last September, operator Bema Gold (TSE) has been reporting better than anticipated gold and silver production at below projected costs. Bema owns 85% of the open pit, heap leach mine near Arco, Idaho, while Glamis Gold (TSE) holds the remaining interest.

For the first six months of 1990, production from Champagne was 32% ahead of schedule for gold and 39% ahead for silver. On a gold equivalent basis, this represents a 33% increase over planned production.

Operating costs have been lower than projected. That has led Bema to revise the life of mine operating cost to US$148 per oz. gold equivalent from the previously estimated US$183 per oz. gold equivalent, or a 17% reduction.

The operating cost per ton of ore mined, including processing and waste stripping, has been revised to US$3.61.

Bema is carrying out an intensive exploration program on the St. Louis and Poison Gulch zones, about one mile from the Champagne pit. The company reported that the zones have anomalous gold and silver values at surface and “appear geologically similar to the Champagne deposit.”