Pure Gold Mining says it has achieved commercial production at its PureGold Mine, in Ontario, Canada, effective August 1.

Following a successful commissioning period, the PureGold mine, milling facilities and other critical systems are now all operating in line with or rapidly approaching design capacity of 800 t/d of ore on a sustainable basis, the company said.

The mine poured first gold on December 29, 2020.

Darin Labrenz, President & CEO of PureGold, said: “Commercial production is a significant milestone and marks the beginning of a very exciting growth phase for the company. By combining stable gold production with the high-grade exploration potential that makes the PureGold Mine so unique, we are making significant progress toward our goal of unlocking the full potential of the PureGold Mine and becoming Canada’s next iconic gold producer.”

At the designed 800 t/d throughput rate, the company expects to average 80,000 oz/y of gold over a 12-year mine life, peaking at 125,000 oz/y while mining the 8-zone, which comes with a higher average grade.

As Phase 2, Pure Gold plans to hit a 800-1,000 t/d run rate for plus-100,000 oz/y of gold production. This will be facilitated by optimising the mine and mill – with interstage and trommel screens, at both the SAG mill and CIP tank – and accelerating access to the 8-Zone and other deeper high-grade zones.

Beyond this, Phase 3 of the PureGold Mine could target plus-200,000 oz/y of gold at a plus-1,600 t/d throughput rate by expanding the current mine and mill, extending known zones vertically, integrating satellite deposits, convert resources to reserves and extending the mine life through exploration.