LaFleur Minerals (CSE:LFLR) is “laser focused” on restarting gold production at the Beacon Gold Mill in Canada, with technical studies advancing to optimise and expand the mill’s capabilities.
In parallel with regional exploration and drilling activities, the current work includes detailed assessments to enhance the existing metallurgical facility, supported by the development of updated cost estimates and retrofit flow sheets.
These studies form part of a broader growth strategy that contemplates substantially increasing mill throughput, modernising the process flowsheet, and advancing drill programs to continually expand the mineral resources available to feed the Beacon Gold Mill.
To date, work to deliver a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) has focused on evaluating the requirements to economically process the Swanson Gold Project’s mineralised material at Beacon, as well as to further the mill expansion.
LaFleur Minerals is also assessing future mill expansion scenarios in the 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes per day range.
Preliminary capital requirements for these growth cases are currently under evaluation, while engineering firm Bumigeme and sustainability consultancy ERM are developing metallurgical flowsheet options to support the potential expansions.
The current Beacon Gold Mill infrastructure is supported by an existing 4 megawatt power supply, providing a strong electrical foundation for current operations and planned throughput increases. This existing capacity enables LaFleur to evaluate upgrades in the PEA base case and supports future expansion scenarios.
Mine options analysis and associated economic trade-off studies are also being undertaken to evaluate the viability of processing Swanson mineralised material at the Beacon Mill.
LaFleur says these evaluations intend to quantify the relative merits of alternative development pathways and to inform the selection of the preferred mine-to-mill configuration.
CEO Paul Ténière says this work positions the company to expedite its streamlined development strategy centred on a restart of gold production.
The Beacon Gold Mill has a current 750 tonne per day capacity and is located only 50km away from the Swanson gold deposit. The mill last operated in 2022, with gold prices ranging from US$1,800-2,000 an ounce.
Yesterday (26 January), gold’s price rose more than 1% to US$5,080 an ounce, extending its record-breaking rally as safe-haven demand strengthened amid trade and geopolitical uncertainties, as reported by Trading Economics.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: LaFleur Minerals
