Osisko picks future Windfall Lake mill site in Lebel-sur-Quévillon, Quebec

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Montreal-based Osisko Mining has identified a site near Lebel-sur-Quévillon, in Quebec, for the future mill complex that will treat ore from its flagship Windfall Lake gold project.

Osisko stated on Wednesday that it intended to evaluate the site location through the environmental assessment process and in the preparation of a feasibility study for the Windfall Lake project.

If the site in Lebel-sur-Quévillon is chosen to process the ore, the mill could serve several other gold mines in the region, the company advised.

The site is located near an existing industrial property of the former Domtar Corporation pulp and paper mill, about 11 km from the town and 103 km by existing all-weather gravel roads from the mine site. There are a Hydro-Quebec substation and a water pumping station next to the property. The site is located on Crown land immediately southeast of the municipal limit of Lebel-sur-Quévillon. Osisko holds the mineral exploration rights.

Subject to the results of the environmental assessment and feasibility study, Osisko cited several reasons to choose the Lebel-sur-Quévillon site rather than build a mill at the mine site, including limiting Windfall Lake infrastructure to underground mining activity that greatly reduces the environmental footprint. The site has access to existing grid power and the Hydro-Quebec electrical substation will eliminate the construction and costs of a 103-km power line to Windfall Lake, while the existing water pumping station has ample capacity for a gold milling complex.  Having a regional workforce at Lebel-sur- Quévillon reduces the need for a large construction and operations camp at Windfall Lake, which will reduce the rotational workforce. The company also cited cost savings on transportation and construction/operations logistics from existing rail and road access to Lebel-sur- Quévillon, which would offset the cost of transportation of ore; and noted that there was also the potential for the mill to treat ore from other gold deposits within trucking distance of Lebel-sur-Quevillon.

Osisko is well-funded with about C$190-million in cash and equity investments, and is carrying out an intensive definition drilling and large-scale exploration campaign on Windfall and the surrounding area. The company expects to publish an updated compliant resource estimate on the Windfall Lake project in the second half of 2017.

Notably, Osisko advised that the Quévillon exploration property acquisitions and agreement announced last month include about 30 known gold showings, as well as the Osborne-Bell gold deposit, which is located 32 km northwest of the proposed site.

The Osborne-Bell deposit has been the object of significant historical drilling over the past 15 years, and will be the focus of new drilling and resource re-evaluation by Osisko in 2017.