Amex Gold Mining (TSXV: AMX) has completed portal construction at its wholly owned Perron gold project in northern Quebec and fired the first blast of the underground ramp, opening the underground phase of work at the property.
The ramp will be advanced to roughly 235 metres vertical depth, where it is intended to reach the high-grade Champagne Zone. CMAC-Thyssen is handling the development, which Amex says has been built to production-scale specifications rather than exploration standards, so the same opening can serve a future mine.
That access is the entry point for a planned 40,000-tonne bulk sample. The program is meant to test mining conditions, grade continuity, dilution, reconciliation and metallurgical performance, the variables that tend to separate a good drill intercept from a workable stope.
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“With the portal complete, we are moving to on-schedule ramp development that will allow us to access the high-grade Champagne Zone,” said Victor Cantore, president and chief executive. “The portal and ramp are being built to production-scale specifications, supporting both the bulk sample and future mine development. This work will give our team direct underground access to the deposit and represents an important step in the continued advancement and de-risking of Perron.”
Development continues over the coming months, and the company expects the ramp to generate a run of operational updates as it advances at depth.
The underground work is proceeding alongside permitting. Amex filed the project notice for the Perron gold mine with Quebec’s environment ministry on August 13, starting the province’s environmental assessment process. The ministry will issue directives setting out what the environmental impact assessment must address, and the company has already begun baseline studies, engineering evaluations and stakeholder engagement.
The bulk sample is separately permitted and is not waiting on that review, which is why crews are underground now rather than after the assessment closes.
Amex’s plan contemplates a high-grade underground operation processing material at an existing regional mill, an approach that trims upfront capital. A feasibility study conducted earlier this year estimates average annual output at 147,000 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of US$910 per ounce.
Amex Gold Mining last traded at $4.17 on the TSX Venture.
