By Dorothy Kosich, Mineweb.com
Alexco Resources of Vancouver announced Thursday that Canada's only primary silver-producing mine, Bellekeno, achieved commercial production as of New Year's Day.
Alexco (TSX: AXR, NYSE AMEX: AXU) announced its new Bellekeno silver-lead-zinc mine achieved production in the Yukon Territory. The mine is believed to be the only primary silver-producing mine in Canada.
The company acquired 100% of the Keno Hill Silver District in the Yukon Territory, which produced more than 217 million ounces of silver between 1921 and 1988. Historically, the Keno Hill District is Canada's second largest silver producer.
The Bellekeno mine is expected to mine an average of between 2 million to 2.8 million ounces of silver annually over an initial mine life of four years. The initial mine plan reveals an indicated resource of 9,015,410 ounces of silver.
One quarter of the mine's silver production will go to Silver Wheaton, which agreed to provide US$50 million to fund the development and construction of Bellekeno.
Meanwhile, Alexco also has a lead and zinc off-take agreement with Glencore Stamford. It is anticipated 42,800 tonnes of concentrate containing 27,300 tonnes of lead concentrate and 15,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate will be shipped from Bellekeno a smelter for refining over the first two years of operation.