Victoria Gold is developing the Eagle gold mine in the Dublin Gulch property within Mayo mining district of Canada. Image courtesy of Victoria Gold Corp.
The first phase of Eagle gold mine construction began in August 2017. Image courtesy of Victoria Gold Corp.
Ore processing facilities at the Eagle mine will include two heap leach facilities. Image courtesy of Victoria Gold Corp.
The project is expected to produce first gold in the fourth quarter of 2019. Image courtesy of Victoria Gold Corp.

The Eagle gold project is being developed approximately 85km from the Mayo mining district in Central Yukon, Canada. StrataGold, a subsidiary of Victoria Gold, is the project owner.

Feasibility study of the project was completed in February 2012, while Victoria Gold conducted a new feasibility study in September 2016. StrataGold received the quartz mining license (QML-0011) for the project in March 2015.

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Full construction works of the project began in March 2018 and first ore is anticipated to be delivered to the heap leach pad in the third quarter of 2019. First gold is anticipated to be produced in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The Eagle gold mine is expected to produce an average of 190,000oz of gold a year through its ten years of life of mine. It is expected to create between 350 and 400 jobs during the construction phase.

Eagle Gold Project geology and mineralization

The Eagle gold project is a part of the Dublin Gulch, which is a block of 1,914 quartz claims and ten quartz leases.

The property is located in the northern portion of McQuesten Antiform and is underlain by Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian-age Hyland Group metasediments.

The project is divided into two deposits – the Eagle and Olive deposits. Located within the Tombstone Gold Belt, the deposits majorly host granodioritic rocks.

The Eagle zone holds majority of the mineralization and extends approximately 1,600m east to west and 600m north to south. The mineralization occurs as elemental gold comprising isolated grains and is associated with arsenopyrite.

The Olive zone is located 2.5km north-east of the eagle zone and hosts 97% mineralization in grandiorite. Gold mineralization is mostly associated with sulphides and quartz-sulphide veining as part of an interpreted shear-zone.

Reserves of the Eagle gold project

As of September 2016, the proven and probable reserves of Eagle gold project were estimated to be 123Mt of ore, grading 0.67g/t gold. The project is estimated to contain 2.7 million ounces (Moz) of gold.

Mining and ore processing at the Eagle gold mine

The proposed method for exploiting the Eagle and Olive deposits will be open-pit, involving drilling and blasting followed by shovel and haul. Run-of-mine ore from the mine will be hauled directly to the primary feed hopper.

The ore will undergo three stages of crushing – primary, secondary, and tertiary. The 365kW primary gyratory crusher will operate at a rate of 1,500t/h and convey approximately 39,800 tons per day (tpd) of ore to the secondary crusher.

The crushed product will be transported by grasshopper conveyors to the heap leach pad, comprising primary and secondary leach pads.

The resulting gold-bearing pregnant solution from the leach circuit will be moved to the ADR plant through a carbon adsorption circuit. Loaded carbon will be extracted and acid-washed before being forwarded to the desorption circuit for gold recovery.

The pregnant solution will pass through electro-winning circuit, following which the gold sludge will be dried, mixed with fluxes, and smelted to produce gold dore.

Eagle gold mine infrastructure facilities

The project site can be accessed from Mayo all year-round and the 23km section of the Haggart Creek access road will be upgraded.

Accommodation to workers and employees is proposed to be provided at the 110-person camp.

Power supply for the project will be provided by a 45km-long, 69kV powerline from the Yukon electrical grid. A new sub-station and distribution point is being constructed for this purpose. Emergency power back-up will be provided by diesel-powered generators.

Contractors involved in the Eagle Gold mine

The consortium of JDS Energy & Mining and Hatch was awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction contract (EPC) for the gold project.

JDS Energy & Mining prepared the feasibility study (2016) of the project with support from Merit Consultants International, Allan Moran Geology Services, and Dowl Engineering. Kappes, Cassiday & Associates, AllNorth Consultants, and SRK Consulting also participated in the study.

Pelly Construction and NNDDC-Cobalt JV were assigned the earthworks contract, while Ewing Construction was engaged for providing miscellaneous site services.

Other contractors involved in the project development include NND Summit Camp Services, Underhill, and Smalls Expediting.

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