Source: The Gold Report 04/06/2017
Companies tend to excel at exploration or development, but Integra Gold seems to do both well simultaneously. In this interview with The Gold Report, Integra CEO Stephen de Jong explains Integra’s dual track, discusses the company’s latest PEA and resource update, and enumerates Integra’s path to production.
Gordon Holmes: Steve, a real pleasure to speak with you today. Integra Gold Corp. (ICG:TSX.V; ICGQF:OTCQX) recently released an updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for your project in Val d’Or, Quebec. Would you give us some highlights and how it compares to the older PEA?
Stephen de Jong: The updated PEA/mine plan is a completely new plan. The old mine plan was a five-year life of mine with 100,000 ounces (100 Koz) gold per year, so essentially the project would produce 500 Koz. Half of that would come from Triangle, and half would come from other deposits, including the Parallel. That PEA was done in 2015, based on a resource from 2014.
We’ve been one of the most active exploration companies in the industry over the last few years, and we’ve seen substantial growth at Triangle. The Triangle resource in the most recent PEA would produce over 1 million ounces (1 Moz) by itself. So on the updated PEA, 1.3 Moz would be recovered, and we’re continuing to grow that resource as we go.
The other big difference in the updated PEA is that the bulk of the mining done at Triangle now is done within steeper structures, where we’ll be able to use the long-hole mining method. That is lower cost and makes it easier to get our tons out. The old mine plan was about 70% room-and-pillar mining …read more