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November 21, 2011 Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Fire River Gold Corp. and Mystery Creek Resources Inc. [TSX.V: FAU|
OTCQX: FVGCF| FSE: FWR] (collectively "the Company") are pleased to
provide this update for the Nixon Fork Mine.
Dry Stack Tailings Pad - This project was completed including
liner installation on schedule by October. It is now ready to be used
for tailings once the leach circuit is completed. More excavation was
required than anticipated and an exceptionally wet summer hampered
productivity. The construction crew did an excellent job working through
a very short summer construction period to complete the facility.
Mill Circuit - The current gravity and flotation circuits are
fully operational. Most of the planned mill upgrades have been completed
with additional equipment installed and processing optimization in
progress. Current gold recoveries are in the order of 60-70%. This is
lower than expected due to processing an exceptionally large portion of
oxidized material in the past few months, which does not respond to
flotation. The mill has been tested up to 190 tpd and appears to operate
well at that rate.
Doré from gravity concentrate is being refined by, and sold to Johnson
Matthey. Copper concentrates are being sold to Glencore.
Mill Leach Circuit - The 250 tpd leach circuit for the mill will
be ready for testing in late January. It is slightly behind schedule due
to the delivery of some key components. Most of the outstanding work to
be completed is mechanical wiring and piping. Commissioning of this
circuit will occur in January 2012. Gold recovery will increase to over
90% with the implementation of leaching and will not be affected by
oxidation.
Mining - In the 3rd quarter, ore was extracted from one near
surface zone, older workings and newly developed stopes underground.
Several mining methods are being tested based on historic methods with
some modifications to take advantage of lower cost long hole drilling.
Mining during the ramp up in the 3rd quarter produced 8,348 tonnes of
ore with an average grade of 17.4 g/t. Total production was 145,000
grams (4670 ounces) of gold in the quarter, an average of 48,400 grams
(1560 ounces) per month. Mining grades decreased slightly in October,
averaging approximately 14.9 g/t on 5,126 tonnes mined. This is lower
than planned, but will improve as new stopes are developed in the
unmined parts of the deposit.
The new 3550 Zone could represent a significant new area, and provide
the opportunity to considerably increase our resources, head grade, and
mine life if it demonstrates the same vertical continuity as the two
other zones that have been mined. The 3550 Zone is located 100 m from
existing development which is ideal for minimizing the capital cost and
time requirement to establish access for mining. The entire vertical
extent will be within 150 m of existing development with the grades
showing as high as 93.8 g/t.
Mining Equipment - All of the mining equipment is now in place
for development and mining. The mine has produced an average of 170 tpd
of ore for the last four months.
Exploration - The $3 million surface drill exploration program
(see
October 27th press release) will occur on the 11,000 acre Nixon Fork
property in 2012 and will serve to expand the current resource and
identify additional mining targets.
Cost Control - Operating costs in the third quarter were 98% of
budget at approximately $2.6 M per month. Capital costs for the same
period averaged $594 K per month, higher than the $409 K that was
budgeted. This was largely due to the increased costs associated with
completing the drystack and modifications to the existing gravity and
processing plant. Pre-production capital spending will end in January
2012.
The Qualified Person for this news release is Richard Goodwin, P.Eng,
President & C.O.O for Fire River Gold.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Richard Goodwin"
Richard Goodwin
President and COO
Certain information regarding the Company
including management's assessment of future plans and operations, may
constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws
and necessarily involve risks associated with mining exploration and
development, volatility of prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of
resource estimates, environmental and permitting risks, access to labour
and services, competition from other companies and ability to access
sufficient capital. As a consequence, actual results may differ
materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. A
feasibility study has not been completed and there is no certainty the
disclosed targets will be reached nor that the proposed operations will
be economically viable. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release. We seek safe harbour.
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