Anaconda Mining (ANX) - Highest Grade Undeveloped Open Pit Project

Anaconda Mining is a junior gold exploration and development company focused on its projects located in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Canada. 

Matthew Gordon spoke with Kevin Bullock the president & CEO of Anaconda Mining (TSX:ANX) to discuss the company’s most recent activities and plans. 

Company Overview

The company has three main assets, the Goldboro gold project, the Point Rousse Project and the Tilt Cove Project. The company has recently announced exploration drilling programs at both its Point Rousse project and Tilt Cove Project with the feasibility study of its Goldboro project also being published. 

Management

Anaconda Mining’s management team has over 100 years of cumulative experience in the mining sector. The management team has a proven track record of running safe and profitable operations and is experienced in acquiring, financing, developing, and operating mining projects throughout the globe.

Anaconda Mining is led by Kevin Bullock, who serves as president, CEO and director of the company. Bullock is a professionally registered mining engineer and has been involved in the management of junior mining company’s since 2002. Bullock was the president and CEO of Volta Resources Inc. and was instrumental to the growth of the company up until its sale to B2Gold in 2013. Bullock has been involved in projects from inception through exploration to development and production throughout his career.

Serving as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is Robert Dufour. Dufour has an extensive background and experience in capital markets and finance, this includes debt structuring, royalty arrangements as well as financial and risk management. Dufour has served as CFO of Newmarket Gold and Crocodile Gold as well as the group financial controller of Northgate Minerals Corporation’s Australian subsidiaries.

Paul McNeill leads the company’s asset development as Vice President (VP) of Exploration. McNeil previously served as the principal geologist of Paladin Energy Ltd. and VP of exploration for Aurora Energy Resources Ltd. McNeill is well versed in grass-root exploration projects, project development and structural controls regarding mineralization.

The Vice President of Human Resources is Amanda Abballe. Abballe has 14 years of progressive human resource experience and since joining Anaconda Mining in 2019, has been driving the company’s people and talent strategy globally.

Rounding out the company’s senior management is Karl Dessureault, the General Manager of the Point Rousse operations. Dessureault has more than 30 years of experience in mining throughout Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest territories.  Dessureault is a professionally registered mining engineer and has been involved in the design, reserve calculations of both open pit and underground mines, development and production of green- and brownfields projects.

The company's projects include the Goldboro Gold Project, the Point Rousse Project and the Tilt Cove Project.

Goldboro Gold Project

The Goldboro Gold project is a planned open-pit, 100% owned asset of the company located within the Municipality of the District of Guysborough (“MODG”), Nova Scotia, Canada. The company has recently released the open pit Feasibility Study for the Goldboro Gold project which has a preliminary life of mine (LOM) of 11 years. The company has in the past also mentioned the possibility of underground mining at the project.

The open-pit feasibility study, completed by various engineering firms, including Nordmin Engineering Ltd and Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc., boast various highlights including 1.1 million ounces of gold that may be recovered in total. The Goldboro Gold project is set to produce 100,000 ounces of gold per annum with an average diluted grade of 2.26 g/t of gold. The project has a pre-tax net present value (NPV5%) of CAD$ 484 million with a pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 31.2% and a pre-tax payback period of 2.7 years. The after-tax NPV5% is CAD$ 328 million and has an internal rate of return after tax of 25.5% and an after-tax payback period of 2.9 years.

The project has indicated open pit reserves of 1,422,000 ounces of gold and 1,159,000 ounces indicated underground. The inferred reserves of the project are 66,000 ounces of gold at the open-pit operation and 418,000 ounces underground.

The Goldboro Gold Project has the opportunity of further value creation including in-fill drilling to reduce strip ratio and positively impact NPV and IRR as well as mineral resource expansion.

Point Rousse Project

The Point Rousse project of the company is located within the Baie Verte Mining District in north-central Newfoundland. The project encompasses an area of 5,794.27 hectares and is accessible year-round through a network of provincial roads.

The project spans three gold trends, namely the Scrape, Goldenville and Deer Cove trends. The trends include the Pine Cove, Stog’er Tight and Argyle deposits. The Pine Cove open pit mine has delivered more than 118,028 ounces of gold since it has been operated continuously by Anaconda Mining.

Anaconda Mining has recently announced a 5,000 m exploration drilling campaign at its Point Rousse project which will form part of the company’s winter drill program. The exploration drilling campaign is aimed at 5 targets the company identified in 2021 through a ground induced polarisation (IP) geophysical survey. The identified targets are all located within 4 kilometres of the Pine Cove mill and tailings facility and include highlights such as the Pumbly Point target which hosts 1.89 g/t of gold over 7.8 metres. The Penny Cove target consists of a 500 metre long north striking IP anomaly, which the company believes may hold high-grade gold mineralisation. The Iron Formation target is 700 metres in strike and has historically shown grab samples of up to 22.3 g/t gold.

Tilt Cove Project

The Tilt Cove Project of the company is an exploration stage copper-gold project approximately 45 km from the Pine Cove Mill. The project comprises 5,700 hectares of prospective lands which the company believes holds large promise. The land position of the Tilt Cove Project includes the Nugget Pond Horizon, which hosts the past-producing high-grade Nugget Pond Gold Mine. The mine produced 168,748 ounces of gold with an average grade of 9.85 g/t throughout its lifetime.

The company has recently announced that it initiated an exploration program at its Tilt Cove Project, which will also form part of its winter exploration program. The exploration program at Tilt Cove will consist of 4,000 metres of diamond drilling aimed at locating mineralisation anomalies similar to that found at the Nugget Pond deposit.

The findings of the winter exploration program will be indicative of the company’s future plans. Anaconda Mining also plans to submit its Environmental Assessment Registration Document (EARD) to the Nova Scotia Environmental Department (NSE) in Q2 2022. The EARD will include the Class 1 Environmental Assessment of the Goldboro project, which will lead to the company proceeding with further mine development. 

‍To find out more, go to the Anaconda Mining website