Rubicon Minerals Corp. (TSE:RMX)(MKT:RBY) Tuesday gave an update on activities conducted at its 100 percent-owned F2 Gold System at the Phoenix Gold Project in the heart of the prolific Red Lake gold district in Ontario.
Drilling includes 767.0 g/t (grams per tonne) gold over 1 metre, 278.4 g/t gold over 1 metre, and 24.1 g/t gold over 2.3 metres and extends the gold system to depth over a mile below surface. The current shaft depth is 552 metres and mill building foundations are being poured, the company added.
"We are pleased with the latest results which, when combined with previously released infill drilling results, supports our decision to focus our underground efforts on accelerating the shaft sinking without interruption and temporarily halting the underground drilling," Rubicon president and COO Mike Lalonde said.
Rubicon said it was nearing completion of its optimization studies and currently expects to provide an update in the fourth quarter of 2012. The purpose of these studies is to evaluate different mining scenarios with a goal to optimizing the economic outputs in its existing PEA1.
Following the successful completion of the 2012 underground infill drilling program, Rubicon said it is now in full shaft sinking mode.
The shaft bottom is now at 552 metres below surface, having advanced 186 metres since July 2012. The company continues to evaluate the cost/benefit of extending the shaft to approximately 1,000 metres.
The mill building foundation is progressing well - 50 per cent completed - and the steel erection is planned to start in November 2012. Delivery of long lead items remains on schedule for the third quarter of 2013 and selection of the processing equipment is progressing on schedule.
"Excellent progress has been made in the shaft and mill construction. As part of our ongoing optimization of the PEA1, we are currently evaluating the cost/benefit of extending the shaft beyond its current target depth of 610 metres," Rubicon's Lalande added.
"Deep drilling has confirmed the continuity of the F2 Zone more than a mile below surface. A deeper shaft could provide us with an excellent opportunity to develop exploration platforms to further drill test deeper targets including the sub 1,200 metre target area."
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