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

Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. June 6 announced the appointment of Ernie Siemoneit to the position of project manager and senior engineer for the Palmer copper-zinc-silver-gold-barite project in Southeast Alaska.

Based in Fairbanks, Alaska, Siemoneit brings more than 30 years of experience in management, mining engineering, and operations to the Palmer project. This includes deep knowledge of underground mine design, engineering support, mine system reporting, and continuous improvement processes. He most recently served as the chief mining engineer at Northern Star Resources Ltd.'s Pogo gold mine in Interior Alaska. During his tenure at Pogo, Siemoneit led a team of four engineers supporting improvements and expansion of the Pogo Mine to a 300,000-ounce-per-year gold producer.

This experience in underground mine engineering and operations is expected to be a major asset as Constantine Mining LLC – a joint venture between Constantine and Dowa Metals & Mining Alaska Ltd. – prepares to develop an underground ramp that will provide a platform for exploration and definition drilling at Palmer.

Palmer currently hosts 4.68 million metric tons of indicated resource averaging 5.23% (539 million pounds) zinc, 1.49% (154 million lb) copper, 30.8 grams per metric ton (4.6 million ounces) silver, 0.3 g/t (451,000 oz) gold, and 23.9% (1.12 million metric tons) barite; plus 9.59 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 4.95% (1.05 billion lb) zinc, 0.59% (124 million lb) copper, 69.3 g/t (120.6 million oz) silver, 0.39 g/t (21.4 million oz) gold, and 27.7% (2.65 million metric tons) barite.

Drilling from the planned underground development at Palmer will allow the Constantine Mining JV to upgrade and expand these resources in preparation for a feasibility study that will detail plans for an underground mining operation at the polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide project near the town of Haines, Alaska.

Ernie Siemoneit

"We are very pleased to welcome Ernie Siemoneit, a very talented and experienced Alaskan professional engineer to manage and lead the Palmer project to feasibility," said Constantine Metal Resources President and CEO Garfield MacVeigh. "Ernie's broad depth of underground experience at a time that the Palmer project is preparing for underground exploration and feasibility will be of tremendous value to Constantine Mining LLC, a joint venture between Constantine Metal Resources Ltd. and Dowa Metals & Mining Co., Ltd."

Ernie commented, "I am grateful to be chosen by Constantine's upper management team to lead the Palmer Project in the current feasibility process," said Siemoneit. "As an Alaskan, former commercial fisherman and miner, I understand the need for planning and conducting ourselves in a way that delivers best practices for work safety, community understanding, and environmental protection. Great teamwork and communication effort are required to build on past experience and make the Palmer project a success. I look forward to being a major part of this exciting and challenging process over the next several years."

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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