O3 Mining Inc (TSX-V:OIII, OTCQX:OIIIF) said it is advancing the mining, metallurgical, geomechanical, geotechnical, environmental and community engagement work components of the Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for its Marban Engineering project in the heart of the Malartic gold mining camp in Quebec, Canada.
In a progress update, the Toronto-based gold explorer and mine developer said it remains “committed to completing the study on schedule in the third quarter of 2022.”
The Marban property covers 7,525 hectares and is located 12 kilometres (km) from the Canadian Malartic Mine owned equally by Agnico Eagle Mines Limited and Yamana Gold (TSX:YRI, LSE:AUY) Inc. The company said its activities at Marban this year have focused on Marban Engineering and working towards completion of the PFS and future economic studies.
The company underlined the following PFS progress highlights:
- A trade-off study has been completed on mine/mill throughput, indicating a 50% increase from the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) estimate of 4 Mt (million tonnes) per year to 6 Mt per year to mill;
- The geotechnical and geomechanical testing has been completed;
- The mineral processing and metallurgical testing program have been completed;
- Environmental baseline studies are ongoing, and dialogue has been initiated with First Nations communities, host communities around the project and representatives from all levels of government.
On the mining front, the company said it made progress on the following:
- Improved mine sequencing to limit peak mining rate increase to 15% with the increase of 50% in mill feed throughput and reduced peak stockpile under 2 Mt vs 12Mt at PEA;
- Improvements made to the productivity with; increased truck size to 150 tonnes from 100 tonnes in PEA and increased bench size from 5 metres to 10 metres;
- The company said the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) dated March 1, 2022 will be used as the resource base for the PFS together with the completed and reported metallurgical testwork results.
O3 noted that additional work must be completed on mine sequencing, and stockpile design and focusing on the detailed mine capital cost and operational cost.
Meanwhile, O3 said geotechnical and geomechanical testing has been completed with ongoing interpretation, while the hydrogeological modelling has also been successfully completed.
Separately, mineral processing and tailings management have progressed in the following ways:
- The metallurgical testing program has been completed;
- Trade-off study on CAPEX to recovery for grinding and leach circuit design has been completed. A reduction of target grind size from 100 microns to 85 microns and optimized leach-CIP circuit will be integrated in the mill design. Combined with improved results from testwork program and the inclusion of solution losses the recovery for the PFS is 94.9% for Marban and 91.9% for Norlartic;
- The tailings management trade-off study has been completed, with an improved conventional tailings scenario selected. This scenario combines a smaller tailing management facility and in-pit tailings deposition enabling a project footprint reduction.
Meanwhile, O3 said it has advanced environmental baseline studies as stated in its 2021 ESG Report, as well as initiated dialogue with First Nations communities, government representatives from the municipal, provincial and federal level. In addition, the company said it has met with the people living in the project's proximity to get their feedback.
In 2022, 18,000 metres have been drilled on Marban Engineering, with an additional 40,000 metres planned until the end of the year. Drilling will be focused on infill and expansion drilling, as well as exploration drilling in the Marban Fold area, said the company.
“O3 Mining aims to become a leading gold producer and put the Marban project into production by 2026,” it added.
O3 Mining, an Osisko Group company, is on the road to produce from its highly prospective gold camps in Québec.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive