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Acquired in June 2013, Casa Berardi marked Hecla’s return to the primary gold-mining business after a five- year absence. The mine is located 60 miles north of
La Sarre, Quebec, in the Abitibi Mining District along the Cadillac Fault – a greenstone belt stretching from Wawa, Ontario, to Val-d’Or. Since 1901, the region has produced 170 million ounces of gold from some 100 mines.
Casa Berardi has generated cash flow for Hecla from the time of the acquisition – producing nearly 130,000 ounces of gold in 2015 alone – and has been partially insulated from lower gold prices by the weaker Canadian dollar.
In addition to the underground workings, crews have begun excavating the project’s first open pit, called the East Mine Crown Pillar pit. The project is expected to provide 5,000 additional gold ounces in 2016, then 30,000 ounces annually for the rest of the project’s life – and an internal rate of return of 90 percent. It’s also anticipated to provide an additional 700-800 tons of ore a day, bringing the mill to full capacity and supplementing
the higher-grade production from underground. And exploration results show considerable promise: the 2015 drilling program replaced more than 75 percent of the ounces mined during the year.
When Casa Berardi resumed operations in 2006, it had a five-year mine life. Today, it’s looking to be in good shape for at least the next 11.
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Right: Gold doré process at the Casa Berardi mine in Quebec, Canada. Facing Page: Casa’s headframe.