North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

A new era of mining has begun at Alexco Resource Corp.'s Keno Hill silver-zinc-lead project in Canada's Yukon.

"Initial commissioning of our mill is a significant milestone on our journey toward establishing Alexco as Canada's only primary silver producer," Alexco Resource Chairman and CEO Clynt Nauman said on Nov. 24. "This achievement has only been possible with the hard work and determination of all our employees and contractors who have worked safely to deliver this milestone. Congratulations to all!"

While the commissioning began on schedule, the slightly more than 150 employees and contractors will need to remain vigilant on the continued march toward commercial production – especially during the resurgence of COVID-19.

On Nov. 20, the Yukon government announced 14-day self-isolation requirements for persons entering Yukon that are not deemed critical workers. While miners are not considered critical workers, roughly 93% of the contractors and employees at Keno Hill are from the Yukon and British Columbia. While the BC miners will need to go into two weeks of isolation, the large number of workers from these two neighboring jurisdictions should make logistics easier.

Alexco says it is preparing a two-part operations plan that is focused on maintaining development activities at Keno Hill while adhering to current health directives and Yukon travel restrictions; as well as assessing the longer-term scheduling impacts of alternative development and ore supply strategies in light of new COVID-19 protocols and restrictions.

A lot of work ahead

The Keno Hill District has a rich silver mining history that spans more than a century, including a short stint of operations by Alexco from 2011 to 2013. Weak silver prices and uncertain market conditions at the time, however, weighed on the company's decision to idle down the mill and focus on expanding the high-grade resources for which the property is renowned.

A prefeasibility study completed in 2019 details plans for a 430-metric-ton-per-day operation at Keno Hill that is expected to produce a total of 27.2 million oz of silver, 67.2 million pounds of zinc and 65.4 million lb of lead over an initial eight-year mine life.

These payable metals will be recovered from 1.18 million metric tons of probable mineral reserves averaging 805 grams per metric ton silver, 4.13% zinc, 2.98% lead and 0.34 g/t gold.

The bulk of these reserves are hosted in three underground mines – Bellekeno, Flame & Moth, and Bermingham.

The initial ore for commissioning is being mined from Bellekeno, which hosts 40,109 metric tons of the Keno Hill reserves at an average grade of 843 g/t silver, 11.8% lead, and 6.3% zinc.

Alexco Resource Corp.

Core from a surface drilling that targeted a new zone of deeper high-grade silver mineralization at Bermingham.

The company is still carrying out underground development at Flame & Moth, which hosts 704,211 metric tons of reserves averaging 672 g/t silver, 5.7% zinc, 2.7% lead, and 0.49 g/t gold; and Bermingham, which hosts 362,343 metric tons of reserves averaging 972 g/t silver, 1.3% zinc, 2.6% lead, and 0.13 g/t gold.

"There is still a lot of work ahead in our ramp up and underground development programs at the Bermingham and Flame & Moth operations, which are scheduled to sequentially replace Bellekeno ore feed over the course of the first half of 2021," said Nauman.

On the exploration front, Alexco recently completed an 11-hole surface drill program testing Bermingham Deep, where 2019 drilling cut 8.15 meters averaging 1,414 g/t (45.5 oz/t) silver about 200 meters below NE Zone of Bermingham.

Results from the Bermingham Deep drilling are expected to be released by the end of the year but could be as late as January due to the slower return of assays this year.

In the meantime, underground infill and resource expansion drilling is slated to begin in early 2021.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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