Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. said Sept. 26 that it estimated a higher total mineral resource for its Kiena gold project in Quebec at 788,100 gold ounces within 2.8 million tonnes grading 8.67 g/t gold for the measured and indicated categories, than the 582,600 ounces within 3.1 million tonnes grading 5.81 g/t gold estimated in December 2018.
The Kiena Deep A zone hosts measured and indicated resources containing 405,100 ounces of gold within 679,200 tonnes grading 18.55 g/t gold.
The updated estimate includes drill data as of Aug. 6, and an additional 140 drill holes, for a total of 36,050 meters drilled since Oct. 12, 2018, being the close-out date for the resource estimate published on Dec. 12, 2018. Of these 140 new drill holes, 66 are in Kiena Deep A zones, resulting in the inclusion of an additional 18,365 meters of drill data.
Work is currently underway on a preliminary economic assessment, which is expected in the first half of 2020. It will determine the next steps for Kiena, including the timing for potentially restarting operations, said Wesdome President and CEO Duncan Middlemiss in a statement.
