Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/554714
12 www.resourceworld.com a u g u s t / s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5 west by 500 metres vertical and 50-100 metres in width. We have intersections of 3 and 4 kilos of gold many hundreds of metres outside this mineralization. There are also airborne geophysical anomalies that could indicate mineralization contin- ues to the west. We have encountered gold mineralization a kilometre below surface at the Valley of the Kings deposit. Rw: Besides the Snowfield deposit, do you think there are other significant gold and/or silver deposits on your property? RQ: Yes. We have over 100 km 2 of exploration potential. Between airborne geophysics and ground truthing, we have discovered other areas with anomalous gold some distance from our main deposits, but with similar alteration. We have raised flow- through funds to investigate the anomalies. The main focus, of course, is to build the mine at the Valley of the Kings. Rw: Since the capital cost to build the mine is estimated to be $747 million, even with Zijin Mining investing $81 million, how will the remaining funds be raised to complete mine construction? Do you need to bring in a senior partner? Joseph Ovsenek: The way we are look- ing to raise about $750 million to build the mine is with 50% debt financing, another 25% with equity financing and then pos- sibly the remaining 25% with the sale of the gold stream to various funds. Now that we have received both the Federal and Provincial environmental permits we expect to announce the debt financing plan and break ground with construction. We are not planning to bring in a senior partner. We believe that the best value for our shareholders is to build the mine our- selves. We have now assembled a qualified construction and operational team. We hired Jim Currie, an engineer who is VP and Chief Operating Officer as well as Ian Chang, VP Project Development and Kevin Torpy, General Manager for the mine. Rw: Is there currently some kind of road access to Brucejack? JO: We completed an access road to Brucejack in January 2013 and have been using it daily since then for moving people and supplies. We have skilled employees and contractors who know how to main- tain the 11-km part of the road over the Knipple glacier. We also have an airstrip which we plan to rehabilitate and extend. Rw: How many full-time jobs will the mine create? JO: There will be 550 to 600 full-time jobs at the Brucejack Project. Currently, on site, we have accommodations for 260 people and have let the contract to build a 330-person camp which is currently being fabricated off site and will be moved on site this fall and be ready for use next spring. Rw: Are all the permits in hand? JO: We have been issued an Environmental Assessment Certificate by the British Columbia Minister of the Environment and Minister of Energy and Mines. Recently we also received a positive environmental assessment decision by the Federal Minister of the Environment. So now with both major permits we are gear- ing up to start construction within the next month or so. Rw: How will the tailings be handled? JO: There is no tailings dam. Half of the tailings will be mixed with concrete and backfilled underground by pumping with the other half going into Brucejack Lake. Brucejack Lake, an 85-metre deep lake with no fish, is an ideal site for tail- ings storage and a big advantage for us. Underground, the miners will be able to work from the mined-out backfilled stopes to drill and blast the next stopes. In light of the Mt. Polley tailings dam failure, our Brucejack Lake tailings plan has been good for permitting and has received public and First Nations support. Rw: With your long-hole stoping min- ing method, that tells me that you can blast large zones of gold-mineralized rock, so I assume we are not talking about nar- row veins. Is that correct? JO: Correct. We are bulk mining under- ground. The mineralization at Brucejack is contained in mineralized corridors run- ning east-west that range from 20 to 50 metres wide grading 0.5 to 2.5 g/t gold with some very high-grade sections up to 41,000 g/t over half a metre wide. So, by bulk mining using long-hole stoping, we are taking both the high and low grade gold. As Robert noted, these mineralized Underground development at the Brucejack Mine. Photo courtesy Pretium Resources Inc.