Goldboro Gold project is a surface gold mine located in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Signal Gold, formerly known as Anaconda Mining, holds 100% interest in the project.
The project will include an Open Pit Mine /Underground Mine, a processing facility with a mill capacity of 4,000 tonnes per day, a tailings management facility, three waste rock storage areas (WRSAs), a water treatment plant and supporting infrastructure.
The construction work is slated to begin in late 2023 with the commissioning of the mine expected in 2025. With around 11-year mine life, Goldboro will continue to operate until 2035. Mine closure process will begin in 2036.
Project Gallery
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Goldboro Open Pit, Long Section View (looking North-Northeast). (Credit: Signal Gold Inc)
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A map showing the East Goldbrook Pit and the location and highlights of the Infill Drill Program which targeted Inferred Resources coincident with the open pit constrained to Measured and Indicated Resources only. (Credit: Signal Gold Inc)
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A map showing the location of the West and East pits of the Goldboro Gold Project. (Credit: Signal Gold Inc)
On 3 August 2022, Signal Gold received the environmental assessment approval for the project from the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
This approval allowed the company to commence other site-specific permitting processes including the Industrial Approval and Crown Land Lease and Mining Lease applications.
According to the Phase I open pit feasibility study released in December 2021, the project is expected to produce 100,000 oz. of gold per year.
In 2022, Signal Gold plans to conduct additional technical studies including geotechnical drilling, expanded surface water monitoring, metallurgical test programmes and infill drilling at the site.
Other exploration activities will continue to identify potential opportunities to further expand the project.
Throughout the mine life, Goldboro Gold can create 735 new direct and spin-off jobs a year in Nova Scotia for 15 years.
Location, geology and mineralisation
Goldboro Gold project is situated around 175km northeast of the city of Halifax on the eastern shore of Isaac’s Harbour in Guysborough County.
It can be accessed through a secondary gravel road (Goldbrook Road) from Route 316. The site has an elevation of around 70m.
According to the latest mineral resource estimate with an effective date of 15 November 2021, the project hosts open pit measured and indicated mineral resources of 1,422,000 ounces (15.7 Mt at 2.82 g/t gold) and underground measured and indicated mineral resources of 1,159,000 ounces (5.9 Mt at 6.09 g/t gold).
It has open pit inferred mineral resources of 66,000 oz (0.98 Mt at 2.11 g/t gold) and underground inferred mineral resources of 418,000 ounces (2.2 Mt at 5.89 g/t gold).
The Phase 1 Feasibility Study for the Goldboro Gold Project plans two separate open pits at the site- a West Pit and East Pit, separated by Gold Brook Lake.
Construction, Operations and Closure
The construction phase will commence with initial works that will include clearing and grubbing the mill area, tailings management facility (TMF), and East and West Pit areas.
The non-potentially acid generating (NPAG) waste rock extracted from the pits will be used to construct new roads, overhaul existing roads, building TMF and in general construction. The waste rock will be stockpiled in the WRSAs.
The water management infrastructure will also be built during the construction phase.
During the operations phase, the East Pit is planned to be mined to a bench floor elevation of around 128m above sea level (MASL), while the West Pit will be mined to a bench floor elevation of 184 MASL.
The two pits will operate for eight and 11 years respectively.
In the closure phase, earthworks and demolition activities will be completed in a period of three years. The work will aim to return the site to a safe, stable, and vegetated state.
Mining method and ore processing
Based on the deposit’s size, shape, orientation, and proximity to the surface, conventional open pit mining methods will be used to extract a portion of the deposit.
It will involve drilling and blasting activities, and the use of a combination of a backhoe-type excavator, hydraulic excavator and front-end loader type excavator.
The ancillary equipment will include dozers, graders, and various maintenance, support, service, and utility vehicles.
The operations are expected to be conducted by a mining operator.
Power supply
Nova Scotia Power 25 kV distribution line installed along Route 316 Power is expected to supply power to the site. It will also upgrade the distribution system to meet additional power requirements.
Goldboro will need around 7.5 MW of electricity on average, which may increase up to 10MW at peak.
Water Supply
Gold Brook Lake is expected to be used as the raw source of water to support mill process operations and site-wide potable water.
Water supply infrastructure will include one intake structure, two booster stations, and one transmission water main from Gold Brook Lake for supplies to the mill freshwater tank and to the potable water treatment unit.
A piping system will be installed at the site to provide water throughout the project site.