Lake Shore Gold Corp. today reported financial and operating results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2010.
Tony Makuch, President and CEO of Lake Shore Gold, commented: "Our 677 employees and contractors have achieved a great deal in a short time. Our mill expansion to 2,000 tpd is complete, we've reached our 1,500 tonne per day target at Timmins Mine, we are getting very exciting drill results at all of our key properties and, as of today, we are into the mineralization on the 680 Level at Thunder gold leach plant designCreek. We are ramping up production quickly and are on track to exit the year producing 10,000 ounces per month at the Bell Creek Mill. We are also on track to significantly build our resource base, including announcing our first National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 resource at Bell Creek very shortly, and we continue to aggressively explore at our Timmins projects and at a number of other very prospective exploration targets."
Operations Overview
Timmins Mine Development
Initial production from Timmins Mine shaft commenced in late July. Mining of the first test stopes confirmed the grades in geological estimates and provided feed to commission the Company's mill expansion. Mining of a 140,000 tonne block in the primary Ultramafic ("UM") 1 Zone commenced in late September with the first 17,000 tonnes processed in October at average grade of 8.17 gpt.
Mining of the Timmins deposit, including from both the shaft and ramp, reached the target of 1,500 tpd in late October. Commercial production remains on track to be achieved at year end.
Thunder Creek
The Timmins Mine 200 Level access ramp reached the Thunder Creek deposit near end of June 2010 and intersected high-grade mineralization with characteristics similar to previously reported TC07-36 (24.61 gpt over 7.00 metres), including visible gold. In total, 500 metres of development was completed around the 300 Level during the third quarter of 2010 with development on a second level, the 315 Level, commencing subsequent to quarter end. The 650 Level access ramp reached the mineralization in the Thunder Creek deposit as of today, November 10, 2010.
Bell Creek Mill
62,198 tonnes were processed at an average grade of 3.75 gpt during the third quarter. A total of 7,222 ounces was produced during the quarter at an average recovery rate of 96.25%. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, the mill processed 136,986 tonnes at average grade of 3.22 gpt for a total of 13,626 ounces at recovery rate of 96.10%. Of the 136,986 tonnes, approximately 95,000 tonnes was from the lower grade upper level stopes at Timmins Mine with the remainder mainly from the Timmins Mine shaft.
Phase One Mill Expansion
Installation of major equipment related to the Phase One mill expansion was largely completed as of September 17, 2010. A three week shutdown followed to complete electrical, piping and PLC installations. The expanded capacity of 2,000 tpd was achieved on November 2, 2010. During commissioning, the mill operated at an average rate of 1,370 tpd (from October 16, 2010 to October 31, 2010) and processed 21,900 tonnes at an average grade of 7.48 gpt (17,000 tonnes at 8.17 gpt from the Timmins deposit UM 1 Zone). A total of 5,107 ounces of gold were produced over the two week period. As of the end of October, the Company had processed approximately 19,000 ounces of gold.
Bell Creek Mine
Near the end of the third quarter 2010, the new access ramp being developed from surface reached the 320 Level, with the Company currently developing east and west along mineralization on the North A Zone. As of November 10, 2010, over 200 metres of sill development along the Zone was completed and the access ramp had reached the 360 Level.
Exploration Overview
Exploration expenditures for the first nine months of 2010 totalled $19.1 million and included $6.7 million at the Timmins Mine ($3.8 million related to the Timmins deposit and $2.9 million to Thunder Creek), $2.7 million at the Thorne property (Gold River Trend), $7.4 million at Bell Creek, $0.7 million at Casa Berardi, $1.3 million on the Mexican properties and the remainder at other projects. In total, 133,022 metres of drilling were completed as of September 30, 2010, including 56,193 metres during the third quarter.
As of November 10, 2010, the Company had 21 drills active on its properties, including 6 underground and 1 surface drill at Timmins Mine (3 underground drills related to the Timmins deposit and 3 underground drills and 1 surface drill related to Thunder Creek), 3 surface drills at the Gold River Trend, 1 surface drill at the 144 property, 6 surface and 2 underground drills at Bell Creek Mine, 1 surface drill at the Casa Berardi property, and 1 surface drill on the Mexican properties. The Company was also managing 1 surface drill at the RT Minerals Corp./Adventure Gold Inc. ("RTM/AGE") option property, on behalf of RT Minerals Corp.
Bell Creek Mine: On November 2, 2010, new intersections reported from Bell Creek demonstrated the potential for extreme high-grade zones, including an intercept of 106.46 gpt over 7.05m, and extended the previously identified high-grade core at Bell Creek by 200 metres to depth. Six holes at the Wetmore property, along a potential new mineralized trend to the south of the Bell Creek/Vogel trend, all intersected structure and grade, with intercepts including 6.62 gpt over 0.40m and 6.77 gpt over 2.50m.
In September, the Company reported significant high-grade intercepts within the North A Zone at Bell Creek between the 300 and 360 levels, announced a minimum 300 metre extension of the Bell Creek mineralized system to a vertical depth of 1,400 metres, and confirmed the presence of a thick, higher-grade core to the mineralization below the 850 metre level as well as its extension by a minimum of 80 metres.
Thunder Creek: The underground drill program at Thunder Creek is well advanced with two drills on the 300 Level and one drilling operating from the 650 level drift. During the third quarter (August 30th), the Company announced wide, high-grade intercepts that confirmed the presence of mineralization below the 300 Level access drift at Thunder Creek in areas never before tested; extended the Rusk Zone 70 metres east of the 300 Level cross cut and 40 metres east of previous drilling; and extended the Rusk Zone westward of the main access crosscut.
On November 1, 2010, the Company reported high-grade intercepts at Thunder Creek which confirmed the Rusk Zone to a minimum 150 metres below the 300 Level cross cut, including 12.11 gpt over 7.20m, and extended the mineralization at least 30 metres up plunge above the 300 Level. The Company also announced initial observations from the first underground drill hole to test the Thunder Creek 650 Level, which intersected the Rusk Zone in addition to a wide interval of Hematite altered Syenite Porphyry measuring approximately 100 metres in width.
Timmins Deposit: On August 10, 2010, the Company reported wide, high-grade intercepts at the Timmins deposit including 13.55 gpt over 50.80m in a previously untested area between the Ultramafic and Footwall zones below the 650 Level. High-grade intercepts such as 61.35 gpt over 15.00m, including 122.65 gpt over 6.70m, in the Ultramafic Zone near the upper portion of the current mining block confirmed the continuity of mineralization and the potential for increased resource grades approaching the 525 Level.
Casa Berardi: On July 23, 2010, drill results at the Casa Berardi optioned property extended the G Zone in the Casa Berardi East Block by 120 metres down dip of previous drilling with new intercepts such as 11.54 gpt over 3.89m, 4.75 gpt over 1.00m and 3.10 gpt over 1.00m. Results to date indicate that the G Zone has a minimum strike length of 600 metres and depth potential of 300 metres from surface.
Outlook
During 2010, Lake Shore Gold expects to mine approximately 65,000 recoverable ounces from its Timmins projects. A portion of the ore mined is expected to be held in inventory at year end. The Company continues to anticipate exiting 2010 at a monthly production rate of 10,000 ounces from all sources.
At Timmins Mine, mining of the initial stoping block in the Timmins deposit UM 1 Zone, totaling approximately 140,000 tonnes, commenced near the end of the third quarter and will continue through the balance of the year and into 2011. Commercial production of the Timmins deposit is expected to be achieved at year end.
The Company is working toward preparing initial National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 compliant resource estimates for both Bell Creek Mine (expected by the end of 2010) and the Timmins Mine Thunder Creek deposit (targeted for the second half of 2011).
After reaching the Thunder Creek deposit from the 200 Level access ramp from the Timmins Mine ramp in late June 2010, development along mineralization off of the 300 Level cross cut commenced in August 2010 and has since been extended to the 315 Level. Development of the 650 Level drift to Thunder Creek resumed in mid-July and reached the mineralization on the 680 Level at Thunder Creek on November 10, 2010 with initial development along mineralization to commence. The first underground drill was deployed on the 650 Level in late September 2010.
At the Bell Creek Mine, the new access ramp from surface has reached the 360 Level as of November 10, 2010. The ramp is expected to reach the 390 metre level by year end. Sill development from below the 300 Level on the "North A" vein commenced in September, with extensive surface and underground drilling being carried out at Bell Creek Mine in support of the Company's target to establish an initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate before the end of the year.
