Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI) (NYSE/LON: AUY) is growing its position in the Abitibi Greenstone belt of Québec, Canada, by acquiring Monarch Gold (TSX: MQR) for C$152 million (USD$114 million), with the Wasamac property and Camflo mill.
Yamana believes the Wasamac property has the geological characteristics to be an underground mine achieving the same scale, grade, production and costs as its Jacobina mine in Brazil and as well its 50-percent owned Canadian Malartic.
The current Mineral Resource estimate for the Wasamac Project includes 3.99 Mt at an average grade of 2.52 g/t Au, containing 323,300 ounces in the Measured category, and 25.87 Mt at an average grade of 2.72 g/t Au, containing 2,264,500 ounces in the Indicated category.
An additional 4.16 Mt at an average grade of 2.20 g/t Au, containing 293,900 ounces, is estimated in the Inferred category.Yamana has been flirting with Monarch over the past year. In June, the company bought Monarch’s Fayolle gold property for C$11.5 million in cash and shares. The company also invested C$4.2 million in a C$5.4-million private placement.
Silvercorp Metals (TSX/NYSE American: SVM) is extending mineralization at its underground silver-lead mine at its LME mine on the Ying Mining Property, Henan Province, China.
The exploration program at the LME mine has targeted areas of known mineralized vein structures in production areas. To date, 13,515 metres from a total of 53 diamond drill holes, including 47 underground holes and six surface holes, have been completed.
Assay results for 32 holes have been received with 21 holes intercepting mineralization. Eight rigs have been drilling at the LME mine since July 2020.
The Ying Mine property hosts an estimated mineral resource of 20.1 million tonnes in the Measured and Indicated categories grading 234 grams per tonne silver, 0.15 g/t gold, 3.64% lead, and 1.28% zinc, containing 151 million ounces silver, 98 thousand ounces gold, 732 thousand tonnes lead, and 257 thousand tonnes zinc.
Hudbay Minerals (TSX/NYSE: HBM) announced that it expects to pour gold from the refurbished New Britannia Mine in the Snow Lake Region of Manitoba. The processing plant is approximately 64% complete and is expected to double gold production from the Lalor gold mine to 150,000 ounces per year by 2022.
Hudbay acquired the New Britannia mill in 2015, as well as several satellite deposits. In February 2019, the company announced the first phase of this strategy to increase production at Lalor following the refurbishing of the New Britannia mill.
For the second phase of the plan, the company has focused on infill and exploration drilling at Lalor and advancing engineering studies on the regional deposits in Snow Lake.
Total Snow Lake gold reserves amount to 2.2 million ounces of gold based on 15 million tonnes with a grade of 4.16 grams per tonne.
Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI) has received approval from Chilean authorities to conduct exploration work to upgrade and expand resources at its Marimaca Oxide Deposit “MOD” and the Marimaca Sulphide Target in the Antofagasta Region of Chile.
A December 2019 mineral resource estimate on the copper oxide resource demonstrated nearly 420 thousand tonnes of contained copper (70.4 Mt @ 0.60 CuT%) in the Measured and Indicated category with 225 thousand tonnes of contained copper (43 Mt @ CuT%) in the Inferred category. The company has yet to define any resources at any of the sulphide targets.
The permit gives approval for the construction of up to 365 drill pads across 3,800 hectares on its property. Exploration work at the MOD will include infill drilling to convert the Inferred resources into Measured and Indicated, ahead of the execution of a pre-feasibility study or feasibility study.
The company’s plans to complete the infill drilling sometime in 2021.
NASA’s Hubble Telescope photographed an asteroid so rich in metals that it is more valuable than the entire economy on Earth. According to current metal prices, the asteroid is worth $10,000 quadrillion that is one followed by 19 zeros, while the global economy was about $142 trillion in 2019.
The asteroid known as 16 Psyche, was discovered in 1852. Unlike most asteroids that are either rocky or icy, 16 Psyche is made almost entirely of iron and nickel according to a study published in The Planetary Science Journal.
NASA plans to visit the metal-rich asteroid with an orbiter set to launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in 2022. The mission could arrive at 16 Psyche in 2026 and spend at least 21 months mapping and studying the asteroid’s mineral endowment.