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Nugget Pond
1998
Richmont Mines, NL

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The Nugget Pond Mine is located near Baie Verte in northeastern Newfoundland. Its acquisition, development and construction represented an investment of $27 million. Commercial production began April 1, 1997, only ten months after feasibility study was approved.

In 1998, its first full year of production, the mine produced 44,000 ounces of gold at a cash cost of US$144 per ounce; in nine months of production in 1997, it produced 34,300 ounces at a cash cost of US$149. Given the fact that the ore graded 15% lower than in 1997, keeping the operating costs so low was a significate achievement. In 2000, 139,000 tons of ore was mined at Nugget Pond grading 0.32 ounces per ton with a recovery of 98.0% while production in 1997, again for nine months, was 94,000 tons grading 0.38 ounces per ton with a recovery of 97.3%.

The Nugget Pond property covers an area of 4870 acres and is easily accessible by a three-mile road linking the site to Highway 416, near the town of Snook's Arm. The ore deposit lies in a sedimentary rock sequence called the Nugget Pond Horizon. Nugget Pond has a unique type of visible gold that is rarely found and easily mined.