Page 48 Contd on pg 48 By Frank Giorno The GeraldtonBeardmore area has a lengthy mining history The T own of Geraldton even uses a mining headframe in its corporate logo Now a proposal by Green stone Gold Mines GP to develop the Hardrock Gold Project will make mining a major part of the area s future Greenstone Gold Mines is the company formed by a joint venture between Premier Gold Mines Ltd and Centerra Gold Inc that will de velop and bring into production the Hardrock Gold Project The company began its 2019 drill ing program which includes drill ing 75 reverse circulation holes totalling 7000 metres and 51 core holes totalling 12900 metres The ongoing 2019 drilling program which includes drilling 75 reverse circulation holes totalling 7000 metres and 51 core holes totalling 12900 metres will be completed by lateApril 2019 Reconciliation of the program results and integra tion of the data into a fnal resource model will be completed during Q2 2019 Premier Gold anticipates re porting on the fnal results of the up dated resource block model during the third quarter of 2019 Reverse circulation RC drilling uses a bit attached to a downhole hammer to produce a hole Un like diamond drilling RC drilling produces samples of rock cuttings rather than a sample of rock core The downhole hammer is powered by compressed air which also acts as the medium bringing the drill cut tings up to surface Greenstone Gold Mines objective is to become a gold producer fo cused on the environment and so cial responsibility The plan calls for the construction operation decommissioning and closure of an open pit gold mine and associated ancillary activities collectively known as the Hardrock Project Greenstone Gold Mines feasibility study envision the open pit life of mine to be 145 years Gold pro duction is estimated to be 42 mil lion ounces at 102 g Aut A gold price of US 1250 per oz 1665 Cdn was used to calcu late the fnancial benefts of the project T o process the ore a mill will be built on site with a throughput design for 27000t of ore per day with the possibility to extend up to 30000t per day The project will have a capital cost of 125 billion with an after tax payback period of 45 years About 450 jobs will be created over the life of the mine The joint venture accomplished two major milestones on its way to being fully permitted to begin com mercial extraction of gold It has received federal environmental approval in December 2018 and provincial environmental assess ment approvals in March 2019 The main objective of the 2019 workplan is to continue preparing Hardrock Gold Project Revives Gold Mining in Geraldton Area