Hawthorne Gold Corp.
| Report date | July 14, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Symbol | HGC, Toronto Venture |
| Symbol | A0M55U, WKN |
The Melman Report - Hawthorne Gold Corp.
Hawthorne Gold Corp. has assembled an experienced and knowledgeable team of mining professionals to advance their dual projects in the mineral-rich province of British Columbia. Led by President & CEO Richard Barclay, Hawthorne is focused on bringing their Table Mountain Deposit in far northern BC into production as rapidly as possible while advancing exploration and development at the Taurus Deposit, adjacent to Table Mountain while also aggressively continuing exploration work at the Frasergold Deposit in the historic Cariboo Gold District.
Hawthorne added both the Table Mountain Gold Mine and the Taurus Deposit to its project portfolio when it acquired Cusac Gold Mines Ltd. in April, 2008. Both projects are located in the historic Cassiar Gold Camp and past production at Table Mountain has amounted to more than 500,000 ounces of gold from ore grading an average of approximately 15 grams per tonne (gpt).
The fully permitted plant at Table Mountain includes a 300 tonne per day gravity flotation mill, a diesel-generated power plant, an assay laboratory and a tailings pond. All plant equipment is in operating order and the company plans to resume production at the mine at the earliest possible time, currently anticipated during 2009. Gold mineralization at Table Mountain is primarily hosted in extensive quartz-carbonate-gold vein systems strongly associated with thrust faulting.
Production will come from ore already discovered at Table Mountain plus material from the large-tonnage, low-grade Taurus Deposit which hosts a NI43-101 compliant inferred gold resource amounting to 1.04 million ounces contained within 32.4 million tonnes grading 1.0 gpt. The company plans to expand resources at Taurus and nearby Taurus II with the goal of proceeding to feasibility.
Hawthorne's other important project is the Frasergold Property, optioned from Eureka Resources and located in the historic Quesnel Trough area of central BC. The company regards this project as an open pittable, bulk-tonnage, multi-million ounce opportunity and plans to extend known mineralization as rapidly as possible.
Previous operators had drilled 38,000 meters of diamond and reverse circulation drilling and had identified a two kilometer "Main Zone" on a ten kilometer mineralized zone. The company is proceeding with a diamond drill program during 2008 with the goal of gaining a better understanding of the size and potential of the deposit and, ultimately, the commissioning of a NI43-101 compliant resource estimate along the mineralized zone.
Hawthorne has almost C$12 million in working capital, thanks to a successful financing completed this past April, and, as of mid-July 2008, a relatively low 35.9 million shares on a fully diluted basis.