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the ore body and place any of the uneco-
nomic metal back underground, where
it came from, below the water table, so it
will not oxidize and not affect the environ-
ment. This is a modern and proven design
approach and the result is a zero discharge
operation without any acid mine drainage.
"Because we are in a remote area, we
need to rezone for an industrial permit and
this process will proceed in parallel with
our exploration programs in 2020. Once
rezoning is approved the project can pro-
ceed with the mining permit process."
Little estimates that both of these will
take a minimum of three years, and with
further exploration success, five years is
more likely the timeline before mining
would ever commence.
Although the project is already large
enough to show a robust return from inter-
nal estimates, Wolfden hopes to add more
tonnage over the next year through explo-
ration. "We've have enough confidence
that there's more than enough to mine
and ship elsewhere and enough for a small
complete operation," said Little. "Small is
beautiful and requires less capital. Odds
are very high for exploration and we can
expand the operation if we are successful
with the drill bit."
"While we're confident we can drill
deeper, exploration in 2020 will focus
near-surface targets. Winter work will
focus on additional geophysics and drill-
ing a recent discovery 500 metres north
of the deposit. Spring and summer will
include additional soil sampling, geo-
physics, trenching and drilling closer to
the deposit and stepping further away in
the belt," said Little. "We're also working
on a couple other project ideas in Maine,
including advanced projects that have the
potential to add further tonnage that could
be hauled to Pickett Mountain. We plan to
be in a position to drill those projects as
well once they are consolidated."
n
LEFT: Mineralized Pickett Mountain split
diamond drill core. Drill Hole 29, West Lens,
grading 27.7% ZnEq over 10.6 metres at
a depth of 600 metres. Photo courtesy
Wolfden Resources Corp.
MINING
