Resource World Magazine

J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 7 www.resourceworld.com 43 Pretium Resources now commissioning Brucejack Mine by Ron Hall To advance a project from drill inter- cept to production in under 10 years is a rare achievement indeed in the world of mining. Yet Bob Quartermain's Pretium Resources Inc. [PVG-TSX; NYSE] has done just that with their Brucejack property – a bonanza gold deposit located in the Golden Triangle region of northern British Columbia approximately 65 km north of Stewart. The property consists of 122,133 hectares (over 301,798 acres). At the beginning of May 2017, con- struction of the mine was substantially complete and commissioning had begun with some 900 tonnes of ore run through the crusher and conveyed to the surge bin in the mill building. Although the exploration history of the area dates to the 1880s when placer gold was located at the close by Sulphurets and Mitchell Creeks and various operators have explored the area since, serious work only began when Silver Standard Resources Inc. [SSO-TSX; SSRI-NASDAQ] acquired Newhawk Gold Mines Ltd. and with it, Newhawk's 60% interest and control of the Project JV in 1999. Brucejack's Valley of the Kings Zone's high-grade gold potential was first dis- covered in 2009 when Quartermain, then President of Silver Standard, bored a drill hole and came up with a core sample that indicated an impressive assay of 16,949 g/t gold over 1.5 metres. Convinced Brucejack was one of the best gold exploration proj- ects in the world, Quartermain purchased the property from Silver Standard in 2010. A feasibility study completed in June 2014 and updated in December 2016 outlined proven and probable mineral reserves in the Valley of the Kings deposit (comprised of high-grade visible gold within a lower grade gold quartz stock- work system) of 8.1 million ounces of gold (15.6 million tonnes grading 16.1 g/t gold). All major federal and provincial regula- tory permits required to begin development work towards commercial production were received in 2015 and construction com- menced on September 5, 2015. Robert Quartermain is now Executive Chairman of Pretium Resources with Joseph Ovsenek, P.Eng., LLB, who also worked for Silver Standard, appointed as President and CEO. The hand-over from the construc- tion team to the operations crew has now been completed in the underground mine and over 187,000 tonnes of ore have been stockpiled on surface and underground. Two long-hole drills are currently drilling off stopes and the slot raise and slot in the test stope have been blasted. The test stope is ready for production and four other pro- duction stopes are being drilled. Power from the 57-km long transmission line connecting the Brucejack Mine to the BC Hydro power grid is now fully integrated and powering the entire mine site with high voltage commissioning completed. The switch gear and electrical distribution within the mill building and the Valley of the Kings portal building has been commis- sioned and is being energized as subsystem installation is completed. The process con- trol communication system infrastructure installation is substantially complete with the DCS operational control system imple- mentation and testing ongoing. Commissioning of the process plant and service systems is now in progress and production of gold concentrate and doré is scheduled for the coming weeks. Once fully ramped up, Brucejack will process 2,700 tonnes per day of ore over a mine life 18 years and with average an annual gold production of 504,000 ounces in years 1-8 or 404,000 ounces over the life of mine. Gold grades are expected to average 16.1 g/t in years 1-10 or 14.1 g/t over life of mine. The project is forecast to produce an Internal Rate of Return pre-tax of 34.4% with a Net Present Value US $2.34 billion. n The Pretium Resources Brucejack Mine is now in the commissioning stage. Photo courtesy Pretium Resources Inc. MINING

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