NEW YORK (Commodity Online): U.S. mines produced 20,500 kilograms (kg) of gold in November, a slight decrease compared with revised October production. The average daily gold production for U.S. mines was 684 kg in November, compared with 663 kilograms per day (kg/d) for October, and 634 kg/d for the full year of 2010, said U.S. Geological Survey in a monthly report.
According to USGS, the average Engelhard gold price was $1,747.44 per troy ounce for November, a 5% decrease compared with the average gold price in October. The gold price began the month at $1,702.54 per troy ounce then rose to $1,798.70 per troy ounce on November 8, the highest level of the month, before starting a steady decline to $1,684.51 per troy ounce on November 23, the lowest level of the month. The price rebounded and ended the month at $1,749.62 per troy ounce.
Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. planned to reduce ore production at its Kensington gold mine near Juneau, AK, by 50% during the next 6 months to allow for new construction and improvements that will increase efficiency. The improvements will include constructing an underground paste backfill plant, conducting more definition and exploration drilling, and completing several surface facilities.
US Gold Corp. released the results of a preliminary feasibility study for its Gold Bar project on the Battle Mountain-Eureka-Cortez gold trend in Eureka County in central Nevada. The average annual production for the open-pit with conventional oxide heap-leach processing was estimated to be 1,590 kg of gold during an 8-year mine life at a cash cost of $665 per troy ounce of gold. Capital costs, including contingency costs, were estimated at $55.8 million in initial expenditures, plus $38.5 million in sustaining capital, for a total of $94.3 million.
Midway Gold Corp. received an independent feasibility study for its Pan gold project in the Battle Mountain trend in central Nevada. The study design was for an open-pit heap-leach operation during an 8-year mine life with annual average gold production of 2,520 kg at a cash cost of $585 per troy ounce. Capital costs were estimated at $99 million, which included $8.2 million in working capital and $6.8 million in contingency costs. The proven and probable mineral reserves for the project were estimated to be 48.3 million metric tons (Mt) of ore at a grade of 0.56 grams of gold per metric ton (g/t) and containing 26,900 kg of gold (Midway Gold Corp., 2011).
Heatherdale Resources Ltd. announced new mineral resource estimates for the Lookout and Trio deposits at the Niblack copper-gold-zincsilver project in southeast Alaska. The Lookout deposit had an indicated resource of 5.64 Mt of ore at a grade of 0.95% copper, 1.75 g/t gold, 29.52 g/t silver, and 1.73% zinc. Lookout also contained an additional inferred resource of 2.37 Mt of ore at a grade of 0.73% copper, 1.42 g/t gold, 21.63 g/t silver, and 1.17% zinc. The Trio deposit had an inferred resource of 1.02 Mt of ore at a grade of 1% copper, 1.11 g/t gold, 16.56 g/t silver, and 1.56% zinc. Lookout and Trio are only two of the six known polymetallic massive sulfide deposits within the 26- square-kilometer Niblack property.
