A year ago, the Hemlo mine in northwestern Ontario was a conservatively run, under-capitalized and non-core asset to Barrick Mining.
Today, one of the Canadian mining industry’s legendary complexes is now in the hands of a new upstart gold company in Hemlo Mining, which is on a mission to get the most out of the ground and the operation.
A largely unknown Vancouver shell company, formerly known as Carcetti Capital, acquired the underground mine on the north shore of Lake Superior in a US$1.09-billion deal last fall.
The mine sits on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway, 35 kilometres east of Marathon. Over its 40-year history, it’s produced more than 25 million ounces of gold.
With the current gold price hovering around US$5,000 per ounce, the company said now’s the time to invest in drilling and exploration to create some long-term value at Hemlo.
While cash flow-conscious Barrick did very little on the exploration front, newly minted Hemlo Mining plans to do significantly more this year to extend the mine’s life beyond 14 years.
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