iN VIDEO: Thompson-Okanagan mining projects to dig in this year

Enthusiasm continues undiminished for the local mining industry as a couple of companies pursue ambitious exploration projects this year.

Gold Mountain Mining is making progress on its Elk Gold Project, a past-producing mine located just off the Okanagan Connector about 57 km east of Merritt.

The company announced on April 30 it had been granted a ‘notice of departure,’ which is an authorization allowing the company to begin construction and site preparation to perform the work necessary to put the mine back into production.

The company has been pursuing an aggressive timeline to get the former mine back into production.

CEO Kevin Smith said the notice of departure will allow the company to get into construction early and 'hit the ground running,' once the various mine permit amendments are approved.

“Since acquiring this project, we were very clear about our intent to quickly put this mine back into production, with efficient deployment of capital,” Smith said.

The mine is located 2 km from Highway 97C, the Okanagan Connector, and 2 km from Elkhardt Lodge.

In 1992, 51,000 ounces of gold was mined from a pit operation that produced 97 grams per tonne of ore.

Another 3,500 ounces of gold was mined in 2012.

“We got some encouraging news last week with approval of what essentially is our construction permit. We anticipate that phase to finish by the end of June, by which time we hope to have our mining permit secured,” Smith says.

If that happens, Smith says the company will begin hauling waste rock through July and August in anticipation of mining in September, with the first ore deliveries in October.

“We’ve come out with aggressive timelines, but we aren’t your typical Vancouver mining company. We are more operations-focused and we are driving really hard to get this project into cash flow,” Smith says.

Smith says the operation is also a local jobs provider, as Gold Mountain Mining has hired local indigenous mining contractor Nhwelmen-Lake LP,  Lake Excavating contractors out of Kamloops and JDS Energy out of Kelowna to do a mining pre-feasibility study.

“We’re excited about this opportunity and really keen to create local jobs,” Smith says.

Further south, Sego Resources is also hard at work at its' Miner Mountain property, located near Princeton.

The company says on its website it has spent more than $4.6 million on the Copper-Gold porphyry project, located 15 kilometres north of the Copper Mountain Mine near Princeton.

Plans call for a diamond drill and trenching program later this year.

Exploration history of the property dates back to a copper discovery in 1908. Granby Consolidated discovered porphyry mineralization in the 1950s, according to information from the company’s website.

Association for Mineral Exploration B.C.’s President Kendra Johnston said earlier this year exploration activity was strong in the region, particularly in the Merritt- Spences Bridge area, with lots of new staking taking place throughout the Thompson and Okanagan.

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