Svartliden Gold Mine

Overview

The Svartliden Gold Mine (“Svartliden”) is located in northern Sweden, 700km north of Stockholm, within the area locally referred to as the ‘Gold Line’. The 87.54 hectare project area encompasses the closed Svartliden Gold Mine.

The first indications of gold mineralisation in the broader Svartliden region were obtained from boulder samples collected during the 1980’s.  The Svartliden gold deposit was discovered in the early 1990’s and the first drilling campaign was carried out by Lappland Guld & Prospecting, a private Swedish entity in 1995.   Dragon Mining acquired an initial 60% interest in the project in 2000, increasing this to 80% on completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study.  The Company subsequently acquired the remaining 20% in 2011.

Mining commenced at Svartliden in 2004, representing the first integrated mine and treatment plant to be developed under the new Swedish Environment and Mining Acts.  Mining was completed in late 2013. At the completion of processing ore from the Svartliden Gold Mine in 2015, 377,347 ounces of gold had been produced.

Geology and Mineralisation

The Svartliden gold deposit represents an orogenic gold deposit hosted within a Palaeoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary sequence that has been metamorphosed to an amphibolite facies metamorphic grade. 

Gold mineralisation is associated with a banded iron formation on the contact between the sediments and meta-basalts and  a sulphide assemblage dominated by pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite.  The entire host sequence is strongly deformed, initially subjected to tight folding followed by dextral shearing.  Both of these events occurred after the mineralising event and have disrupted continuity of the host units. 

Production

Mining at Svartliden commenced as an open pit operation in 2004, with underground operations starting in 2011.  Open-pit and underground mining were carried out in tandem until the completion of open-pit mining in April 2013.  Underground mining was completed by the end of 2013.

A total of 3.18 Mt of ore grading 4.1 g/t gold was mined from the Svartliden Gold Mine during its operation, comprising 2.73 Mt grading 4.2 g/t gold from the open cut operation and 0.45 Mt grading 2.9 g/t gold from the underground operation.

Exploration

The company holds 100% interest in the 87.54 ha Exploitation Concession that encompasses the Svartliden Gold Mine.

No exploration has been carried out at Svartliden since 2013.

Resources and Reserves

The Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources for the Svartliden Gold Mine as at 31 December  2016  total 490 kt  grading  3.7 g/t gold (59 kozs).  This Mineral Resource is reported at a 1.0 g/t gold cut-off grade for open-pit type material and 1.7 g/t gold for underground type material.  These reporting cut-off levels are based on updated estimates for mining costs and a gold price of US$1,500 per troy ounce that has been extrapolated for the potential economic extraction of the open-pit and underground resource at a level approximating 115% of the short term consensus forecast gold price of US$1,260 per troy ounce as at 1 July 2016. 

The remaining zones of in-situ mineralisation comprise well defined zones of gold mineralisation adjacent to and beneath the Svartliden open-pit.  The deposit has been closed off by drilling at depth and along strike and there is little scope for additional Mineral Resources to be defined from further drilling in the immediate mine area.

No Ore Reserves are reported for the Svartliden Gold Mine.

For further information on the Mineral Resources for the Svartliden Gold Mine refer to the Resources and Reserves page.

Environment

In late 2012, a positive court ruling in respect of the new Environmental Permit application was received. This permit allowed unrestricted underground mining and set more realistic discharge conditions. The new discharge limits are amongst the lowest of any mining operation in the Nordic Region. The new permit is of great strategic value for Dragon Mining’s  operation, the Svartliden process site being well positioned on the Gold Line to unlock the potential of nearby mineral resources, including the Company’s wholly owned Fäboliden Gold Mine.

Svartliden Gold Mine