Nov 2 2017
New Jersey Mining Company announced today that underground operations have commenced at its 100-percent owned Golden Chest Mine near Murray, Idaho.
NJMC is now operating from two locations at the Golden Chest Project – the open pit mine that it has developed and operated this year and the underground mine that was largely developed in 2015 and readied for production this year. All ore is being shipped to the Company’s nearby New Jersey Mill for processing.
Mr. Swallow stated, “We are very pleased to commence underground operations at the Golden Chest – another outstanding accomplishment by our team. With the addition of the underground, we are pleased to demonstrate our ability to mine from both the surface and underground simultaneously. With the success we’ve had developing and expanding the open pit, we’ve purposely taken a measured approach restarting the underground mine and will continue to do so through the planned ramp-up period. The New Jersey Mill is running smoothly and has sufficient capacity to support a substantial increase in ore processing and gold production.
Modern exploration, including nearly 30,000 meters of drilling, has revealed seven northwest trending ore shoots at the Project that demonstrate consistent widths and spacing along the Idaho Fault. Management believes the property has district-scale potential for the longer term, not only near the two mines, but also in areas of past exploration and historic gold production.
Mr. Swallow further states, “With the property paid off, the mill in operation, distribution channels for our concentrate in place, and the benefit of more than $13-million invested in the Golden Chest Project, our team believes we have an outstanding platform for future exploration and resource development – not only at the Golden Chest but throughout the Murray Gold Belt.