Galantas Gold Corporation said it had started the production process with long drilling in the first series of stopes at the Cavanacaw gold and silver project in Omagh, Northern Ireland.
STOPES
The Canadian company added that installation of the secondary egress from the 1,096 to 1,052 level was in the final stage of completion and was expected to be commissioned in some two weeks followed by blasting of the stopes.
“The mine has a series of five stopes which will be mined in the first block, using the long-hole open-stoping method, with cemented rockfill as the method of backfill.
“The stopes will be mined between the 1,072 and 1,060 levels on the Kearney vein.
TRAINING
Galantas has also completed the first series of accredited training courses through the Mineral Products Qualification Council (MPQC), with a group of the project’s miners receiving their certificates.
The training met Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) requirements to implement a formalised training course in all mines.
Training course accreditations include shotfiring, jumbo drilling, operation of load-haul-dump equipment, truck driving, services installation and shotcreting.
POTENTIAL
“Thanks to the hard work of our team on the ground, Galantas has now entered the next significant phase of the company’s growth as we commence underground production,” said chief executive Mario Stifano.
“Galantas is uniquely positioned to deliver gold production while we grow our high-grade gold resources and unlock the full potential of a newly emerging high-grade gold district.”