UPDATE 1-6 hours ago by Thomson Reuters
Oct 13 (Reuters) - Canada's Brigus Gold Corp said third-quarter gold production rose at its wholly-owned underground mine in Ontario.
Gold production at the company's Black Fox underground mine, located near Timmins in Ontario, rose 7 percent to 16,838 ounces from 15,688 ounces in the last quarter.
For the same period, the company processed 189,674 tonnes of gold at an average grade of 2.9 grams per tonne.
Mill throughput averaged 2,062 tonnes per day for the third quarter.
Shares of the company closed at C$1.14 on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Arnav Das Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
(Retirefund Notes: Insider reports show that company officers have been buying Brigus stock from Nov 2010 through October 7th, 2011. There are no sells)
Expert Analysis
Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities (7/28/11) "
Brigus Gold Corp. rates a Sector Outperform with the release of assays from nine more holes, of which six holes returned significant assays in the recently named 147 Zone located 4 km. to the southeast of the Black Fox mine. . .the best hole (GF11-244) hit 20.11 g/t over a core width of 16m, including 34.06 g/t gold over 5m. . .assays continue a trend of high-grade results in many of the holes, with most of the assays returning 3m–4m widths grading 6–9 g/t gold. . .this zone continues to demonstrate a very high hit ratio with over 70% of the holes delivering
ore-grade intercepts. So far this zone is showing reasonable down-dip continuity typical of the Timmins camp and we expect further positive results over the year as the company continues its planned 25,000m of drilling."
The Gold Report Interview with Mike Niehuser (7/6/11) "We also were on Brigus Gold's analyst day visiting their Black Fox gold mine and mill near
Timmins, Ontario. Management has succeeded in eliminating the hedge book and reducing debt. Brigus has about $29M in cash and expects to produce over 73 Koz. of gold in 2011 at about $625/oz. As the company ramps up underground outputs with higher grades, production is expected to increase to over a 100 Koz. in 2012 and costs should drop. In addition to this scheduled upside in the near term, the area is known for deep underground
gold mining. Brigus has had great exploration success near surface down the trend in the Contact and 147 Zone. Together, this indicates good potential to increase production and the life of the mine. Improving prospects in the near and midterm should lead to Brigus achieving an entirely new investment profile."
Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities (7/6/11) "Brigus Gold has released assays from six more holes, all with significant assays, in the newly named '147 Zone' located 4 km. to the southeast of the Black Fox mine: The best hole (GF11-206) hit 3.94 g/t over a core width of 24.2m, including 6.86 g/t over 11.8m. Assays, now to a vertical depth of 240m in hole GF11-206, continue a trend of high-grade results in many of the holes."
Kerry Smith, Haywood Securities (6/21/11) "In Q111, Brigus Gold produced 8,772 oz. Au (in line with our model) at a cash operating cost of US$1,097/oz. (lower than our estimate); as previously noted, Black Fox had a difficult Q111, as ore from the Phase II open pit was not available to feed the mill (open-pit ore was sterilized by the old underground ramp and vent raise, and could not be mined until this old infrastructure was decommissioned and moved). Commercial production from Phase II was achieved in April, and underground production continues to ramp up with commercial production expected this month. . .the 147 Zone discovery has the potential for up to 200 Koz. for every 100m of vertical extent—a very significant discover, though in early stages, is delivering some excellent grades and widths."
HRA Dispatch (6/21/11) "Brigus Gold has released its Q1 results, which essentially boil down to management contending that the basic pain from the Black Fox refit is behind it; BRD expects to generate 73&38211;80 Koz. this year at a cash cost of about $600/oz. Drill results out yesterday show both high-grade and bulk-tonnage intercepts are well above current averages."
Black Fox Mine, Timmons, Ont
