FAQs
1: Where will Gowest be processing the ore?
Gowest is considering a number of plans but the Company is favoring an offsite custom milling option at a third party processing facility. This would reduce the cost and size of the operations.
2: How many holes do you drill in a small area?
Typically in a 400 by 400 metre area, we begin with three to five holes. If gold is found, we would fill in with up to ten more holes. If the results from this drilling provides encouraging results, then we would continue drilling up to a maximum total of about 30 or so.
3: Can the First Nation elders be brought into the Bradshaw Gold Project area?
This can be arranged at some time when it is dry.
4: What is left after the exploration and mining is finished?
The crushed rock piles on the surface from mining will be reclaimed and the project area will be returned to close to its natural condition as it was when Gowest began its activities.
5: Does water play an important part of the mining?
No, in fact we will be pumping water out of the mine workings.
6: Will Gowest be involved in any traditional activities?
Gowest does not believe so, but the Company will need First Nation input and confirmation.
7: What would be the size of the surface area impacted by the mining activities, including its waste piles?
The operations would cover approximately ten hectares, but the exact size would be part of the mining permit application. Also, Gowest is favoring the offsite custom milling option, which would reduce the area impacted.
8: Would the swampy conditions and high water table of the land be an issue for the acid generating waste pile?
No, the acid generated waste pile would have a textile and/or clay bottom liner. Also the only acid generating rocks are located in the mineralized zones to be mined and any development through the graphitic argillite units, which are small volumes. This is covered in more detail in the environmental studies the Company has had conducted.
9: What is refractory gold and what other mines deal with arsenopyrite and refractory gold?
Gold deposits are generally grouped according to two broad categories – free milling and refractory. The majority of the historic gold production from the Timmins camp has come from free milling deposits where the use of gravity and basic cyanide leaching techniques can extract greater than 80% of the contained gold. As the quantity and quality of new free milling gold deposits around the world declines, refractory gold resources are becoming increasingly important. The term refractory simply means that gold recoveries are lower than what would be expected with free milling ores without the use of additional, and now common, processing stages to “free” the gold particles. Refractory gold particles are typically contained within a matrix of other minerals (primarily sulphides like pyrite and arsenopyrite) that prevent leach solutions from effectively contacting the gold. Although refractory gold is typically more difficult and costly to process, modern technologies and processes can make mining the right refractory deposit highly profitable. It is worth noting that Barrick Gold, which today is the largest gold producer in the world, got its real start when it built a processing facility in Nevada to treat refractory gold ore. The Goldcorp Red Lake Gold Mine is refractory, and there are a number of others further away, such as in Nevada.
10: How do we fix the land back to its original state?
A: Gowest has outlined its reclamation procedures in their mining and bulk test mining permit applications. They would respect the environment and seek First Nation input as an active participant in the reclamation process.