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A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 31 MINING ing several of the known deposits in the Grey Fox area via a central underground ramp system. The Black Fox Mine experienced an inflow of water in one of its working areas in Q2 due to heavy spring runoff. This event had a negative impact on pro- duction. The area is now dewatered. "We expect the second half will be much better than the first half," said McEwen. Black Fox produced 9,420 ounces of gold in Q2 2019. Production guidance for 2019 has been reduced from 50,000 to 45,000 ounces. McEwen said that they won't be building separate mines for the various deposits. "The deposits in two other zones that we're targeting are all within a one- kilometre radius of what we're thinking will be a central shaft or a ramp access," he said. "We'll just be able to branch off to these various zones and deposits. At Grey Fox we're looking at an underground operation because it would require less permitting time. In some of the incidences, some ore outcrops on surface which would be a good place to ramp down on." McEwen's San José Mine in Argentina, 49%, is on-track to achieve its full year guidance for 2019 of 49,000 ounces of gold and 3,225,000 ounces of silver. Attributable production in Q2 was 13,518 ounces of gold and 848,268 ounces of silver. Based on the improved leaching perfor - mance from process plant modifications recently completed at the 100%-owned El Gallo Project in Mexico, full year guidance for 2019 has been increased to 16,000 gold ounces from residual leaching. El Gallo produced 5,340 ounces of gold in Q2. Project Fenix is a proposed redevel - opment plan for the El Gallo Complex. Feasibility work and permitting are underway. McEwen noted that his company is "always looking for good gold projects that could not only add to our production but our resources." Regarding gold itself, McEwen said, "I have a very positive outlook for the price of gold, silver and the respective equities. There are a number of reasons: high debt level, low interest rates, declining produc - tion and upside potential which I think is considerable in this space. The new bull market in bullion and gold and silver equi- ties started in January 2016. Since then gold equities have outperformed the Dow and the S&P by a considerable margin of two times and outperformed gold bullion by a margin of three times. Ever the gold bull, McEwen enthused, "I have a $5,000 an ounce number in mind. After President Nixon closed the gold win - dow in 1971, gold increased from $40/oz to over $800/oz., an increase of twenty times. In the last cycle, gold rose from $250/oz in 1999 and 2001 to over $1,900/oz in 2011, an increase of better than seven times. Apply either of these multiples (7x or 20x) to the low reached in 2015 of $1050/oz and you arrive at a gold price well above $5,000/oz. The current bull market for gold and gold shares started in January 2016. There is plenty of upside in front of us." McEwen and his wife Cheryl have donated over $60 million that led to estab - lishing the McEwen Stem Cell Institute and other advanced educational endeav- ours. "Some of the research we're doing is a commitment to regenerative medicine and stem cell research." The objective is to re-grow damaged organs and other parts of the body, utiliz - ing stem cells. "If you're healthy, you can have a thousand dreams but if you don't have your health, you only have one dream – to get better – so part of our process is to make sure many people as possible can have many dreams." Rob McEwen was awarded the Order of Canada in 2007 and Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Award in 2013. In 2001, he received the PDAC Developer of the Year Award and, in 2017 he was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. McEwen takes a salary of $1 per year. n LEFT: Rob McEwen FAR LEFT: The Gold Bar gold mine 48 km northwest of Eureka, central Nevada. Photos courtesy McEwen Mining Inc.