Gowest Gold is expected to make the leap into production shortly at the Bradshaw gold deposit, in Timmins, Ontario, with all permits secured and a Steinert ore sorter commissioned.

In an update this week, the company said it had received official notice from the Ontario’s Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines that its Mine Production Closure Plan had received final review and filing in accordance with the Ontario Mining Act. This plan provides details for how the Bradshaw mine will be operated and closed, and how the site will eventually be reclaimed once mining activities are completed.

With this permit in hand, Gowest says it has now received all environmental approvals required to bring the mine into commercial production.

On top of this, Gowest said its ore sorter has been commissioned in preparation for sorting the mixed development ore currently stockpiled on surface. This material will be trucked to Northern Sun’s Redstone Mill, in accordance with a toll milling arrangement, where processing is scheduled to begin on the week of November 9.

Gowest previously reported that around 28,000 t of gold-bearing mixed development ore had been collected and stockpiled on site from the company’s ongoing advanced exploration bulk sample program. The company also plans to mine around 15,000 t of stope ore as part of the bulk sample.

The company has previously outlined that run of mine ore from Bradshaw will first be crushed and sent through a dual energy X-ray Transmission ore sorting unit supplied by Steinert US. This was expected to “sharply reduce handling costs and increase gold grades of ore sent for processing”, it said. In a recent presentation, the company said this technology could reportedly double the Bradshaw grade up to 10 g/t Au.

As part of its Phase 1 developments at Bradshaw, Gowest is aiming to ramp up to production of 50,000 oz/y.