Premier Gold Mines Ltd. said Jan. 30 that up to US$82.7 million will be spent on the exploration and development of its properties in 2018.
The figure includes US$37.9 million for the company's Greenstone Gold Mines joint venture in Ontario, to be funded by partner Centerra Gold Inc., and US$6 million for the McCoy-Cove joint venture in Nevada, to be funded by partner Barrick Gold Corp.
The Greenstone Gold joint venture includes the Hardrock, Brookbank and Key Lake properties in Ontario. Planned work includes permitting, community agreements and the start of detailed engineering.
Premier Gold Mines will spend US$38.8 million in 2018, including US$9.2 million on development and US$1.2 million on exploration at its 40%-owned South Arturo mine in Nevada, where construction of a phase-one open pit is scheduled to begin in mid-2018 and planning is underway for the development of the underground El Nino deposit.
At the Mercedes mine in Mexico, the company will continue to work on improving overall productivity, reducing costs and defining and expanding mineralization, with priority given to the underground development of the Marianas deposit. An updated reserve and resource estimate for Mercedes is anticipated in the first quarter.
The McCoy-Cove deal has Premier Gold Mines retaining full ownership of the Cove deposit, where it plans to spend US$19 million in 2018 on surface drilling, dewatering, hydrological testing, a preliminary economic assessment and the initiation of underground development toward the CSD Gap and Helen Zone deposits.
The company noted that more than 8,000 meters of drilling is planned at Cove, including the current surface program and underground drilling to start in the second half.
Exploration at the Hasaga property, also in Ontario, will include more than US$2.8 million focused on defining higher-grade gold mineralization along the Hasaga Deep target.
