The Novador Gold Project is located in Québec, Canada. The multimillion-ounce project is 100% owned by Canadian company Probe Gold.
Novador is situated in a region with several active mining operations and gold mills.
Recommended White Papers
In 2022, advanced technical studies for the development of the project were initiated. Environmental assessment process was launched in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Probe Gold submitted an update of the independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) technical report on the project in March 2024.
According to the PEA, the mine would produce around 255,000 ounces per year of gold on an average over a 12.6-year mine life. Initial capital expenditure is estimated to be C$602.2m ($435.76m).
The company officially submitted the ‘Project Notice’ for Novador project to Quebec’s Ministry of the Environment (MELCCFP) in August 2024, thus beginning the permitting process at both federal and provincial levels.
Feasibility study results are expected to be filed in 2025.
Construction works may begin in the fourth quarter of 2027, following the receipt of all approvals.
The gold mine may then commence operation phase in Q4 2029.
Novador Gold Project Location
The Novador Gold Project is located in northwestern Quebec, nearly 26km east of the city of Val-d’Or.
The project includes district-scale land package of around 436km2. The site hosts four past producing mines- Beliveau Mine, Bussiere Mine, Monique Mine and Beaufor Mine.
It will primarily mine gold deposits located within Monique, Pascalis and Courvan areas.
Geology and Mineralisation
The Novador Project is situated in the southeastern part of the Archean Abitibi Greenstone Belt within the Val-d’Or mining camp, which is known for its lode gold deposits.
In the north (Pascalis area), the project is primarily underlain by tholeiitic mafic volcanic rocks of the Dubuisson Formation.
Tholeiitic lavas of the Jacola Formation dominate the centre-east, while felsic to mafic volcanics of the Val-d’Or Formation are found in the south (Monique area). The western portion of the project (Courvan area) includes the eastern contact of the synvolcanic Bourlamaque Batholith.
The mesothermal lode gold deposits comprise a complex system of veins composed of quartz, carbonate, albite and tourmaline with some disseminated blebby-cubic pyrite.
Gold mineralisation is mainly found in veins and/or adjacent lithologies.
The two main geological settings which control the gold mineralisation are found in the Bourlamaque batholith consisting of quartz-tourmaline-carbonates-pyrite veins (Courvan deposits) and quartz-tourmaline mesothermal veins located inside and adjacent to small intrusives in the altered volcanic rocks (Pascalis and Monique gold trend zones).
Novador Project Mineral Resource Estimate
The updated 2024 Mineral Resources Estimate (MRE) for Novador yields a Measured and Indicated (M&I) Resource of 177.5 million tonnes at 1.12 g/t Au for 6.4 million oz of gold. The figures combine the mineral resources and the additional pit constrained resource low-grade material.
It also reported Inferred Resource of 30.3 million tonnes at 1.59 g/t Au for 1.5 million oz of gold.
The updated MRE represent a 60% increase from the 2023 estimates.
Mining and Ore Processing
According to the PEA, Novador Project is amenable to open pit and underground mining operations.
Open pit activities will run for nearly 14 years including one year of pre-production. Underground operations will be carried out concurrently from Year 4 of mill feed and ending in Year 13 of mill feed.
Open pit mining methods will include standard conventional drill/blast/load/haul operations.
Underground mining areas will be accessed from declines. The Monique deposit will be mined using the longhole retreat (LHR) method, while mechanised cut-and-fill (MCF) method will be used for the Courvan and Pascalis deposits.
Processing of the ore will involve the use of standard technologies.
The first phase will include primary crushing of run-of-mine (ROM) material, SAG and ball milling with cyclone classification and gravity recovery. Doré will be recovered via leach/carbon-in-leach (CIL) of the gravity tails and subsequent desorption with electrowinning.
In the second phase, the project aims to achieve milling rate expansion by adding a secondary crushing circuit, and a preleach thickener.
The first phase will have a nominal throughput of 15,500 t/d or 5.7 Mt/a, which would increase to 19,201 t/d or 7.0 Mt/a in the second phase.
Key Infrastructure and Site Access
Major associated project infrastructure will include building access road, process plant, waste rock storage facility (WRSF), tailings management facilities, mill basin, mineralised material stockpile, and treatment plant.
The site will also have a gold room, assay and metallurgical laboratory, truckshop, maintenance shop and warehouse, office complex, and security gatehouse.
Novador Project is near TransCanada Highway 117. A CN railway line traverses through the south-eastern part of the property.
Val-d’Or region also has a regional airport with regular flights to and from Montreal.
Additionally, the site would also have easy access to power infrastructure and telecommunication systems.
Contractors Involved
Consulting firm InnovExplo prepared an updated mineral resource estimate (2024 MRE) and supported the technical report for the Monique, Courvan, Pascalis and Beaufor areas on the Novador Project.
Probe Gold prepared the independent PEA technical report in collaboration with Ausenco Engineering Canada, Moose Mountain Technical Services (MMTS), InnovExplo, and Lamont. Other firms such as Knight Piésold, Richelieu Hydrogéologie, and Rock Engineering Consulting Services also supported.
