Taranis Resources Inc has achieved a major development milestone at Thor, filing a Joint Application under the Mines Act and Environmental Management Act with the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Approval of the joint application will position Taranis to become the next producing mine in the Kootenay area of British Columbia, and unique in the application of on-site ore concentration in Western Canada.
The application outlines detailed plans to construct a processing facility onsite that will pre-concentrate polymetallic ore from the Resource. Pre-concentration of ore drastically reduces the amount of material that must be transported from the mine site for subsequent upgrading. High-grade concentrates will be processed at a hydrometallurgical plant for further upgrading before being sent to a smelter for refining. The concentrate will contain silver, gold, lead, zinc, copper and indium. Processing 9,500 t of polymetallic ore plus 500 t of monometallic gold ore are expected to yield enough valuable data to move forward into full-scale mining at Thor.
Metallurgical testing of the polymetallic Resource has determined that it is suitable for upgrading by gravity. Gravity concentration technologies have evolved rapidly in the past decade and have unique applicability to mining operations at Thor. The proposed facility exhibits 95% conservation of water resources and has minimal footprint on the environment. The picture shows an overview of the plant facility at True Fissure mill site
There have been two historic operating mines at Thor, and both operations sought to fully process ore directly on-site. Taranis has opted to take a radically different approach using new technology that incorporates minimal infrastructure on-site. The process is also expected to have a major impact on Resource calculation, as the system can process low-grade ore and upgrade it directly on-site.
Some key elements that have been undertaken for the Joint Application include:
- Periodic water chemistry and stream sediment baseline sampling in the True Fissure and Broadview Creek watersheds commencing in 2017
- Topographic and geophysical surveys over the proposed location of the mill site (the old True Fissure mill site)
- Two years of weather station monitoring to examine long-term local weather trends that play a role in mining and engineering operations
- Extensive metallurgical and environmental testing of ore from two available stockpiles on the property that will be processed in the gravity separation plant
- Engineering considerations of design and plant site location selection and water management and engineering design of on-site storage facilities for waste rock.
John Gardiner, President and CEO of Taranis Resources states “The Joint Application is a major milestone at Thor for all. As an exploration and mining company that values forbearance and responsible development, we have taken steps to formulate a plan that will see successful commercial development of Thor. While the bar is set very high for mine development in British Columbia, the Joint Application that we have designed is a very thorough and well thought-out plan that is data driven. Since acquiring the property in 2006, we have advanced Thor to a point where it now has over 250 drill holes and it is our hope that we will start producing valuable mineral concentrates with the successful implementation of the Joint Application and its successors”.
