The Elk gold deposit is an intrusive related, structurally controlled quartz vein system. The gold and silver bearing quartz veins are characterized as mesothermal based on fluid inclusion studies. The fluid inclusions within quartz crystals in the veins indicate gold mineralization formed at a minimum temperature of 250°C and a pressure of 2.5 kilobars, corresponding to lithostatic pressure at a depth of 7 km (Geiger, 2000). The vein systems consist of structurally controlled, narrow, pyritic quartz veins hosted in granitic as well as volcanic rocks near the contact between these two primary lithologies. Emplacement of quartz veins is thought related to Tertiary Otter intrusions.

Mineralization is thought to be Tertiary in age and associated with the intrusion of the Otter dikes and stocks (Jakubowski, 2006). Gold occurs primarily in native form, in places as aggregates of fine flakes in quartz, in quartz pyrite boxwork and in fractures within the vein. Veins are dominated by quartz with patches of sulphides, muscovite and ankerite (Payne, 1990). Sulphides are dominated by pyrite, with traces of pyrrhotite/marcasite, and arsenopyrite as seen in polished thin sections. Traces of chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena are seen in quartz veins, rarely ranging up to percent grades in some samples.

Native gold occurs in some quartz-sulphide veins, mainly in fractures in pyrite grains (Payne, 1990). In the 1989 petrographic samples, most native gold grains were not associated with base metal sulphides. In a few samples gold is intergrown coarsely with galena (in blebs in pyrite) and with galena tetrahedrite (in a fracture in pyrite). In general, there seems to be a correlation between bismuth, copper, zinc, and gold. Native gold grains are mainly from 0.03 to 0.10 mm in size though grains up to millimetre size have been photographed.

At surface, most of the sulphides are leached out leaving only minor pyrite and chalcopyrite in quartz (Jakubowski, 2006). Gold is closely associated with pyrite and a blue mineral (possibly a goldbismuth alloy called maldonite) or a copper-bismuth-antimony sulphosalt. Metallic minerals in the quartz veins (listed in decreasing abundance) are pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, maldonite(?), phyrrhotite and gold (Jakubowski, 2006). Gangue minerals consist primarily of quartz and altered wall rock clasts. Ankerite and lesser amounts of calcite, minor barite, and fluorite occur locally.

Quartz veins on the Elk Property measure from less than one centimetre to rarely over a metre in thickness, with 8 cm to 15 cm being the most common width observed in drill core. Veins vary in composition from white, fluid inclusion rich and barren of sulphide to being crudely banded smokygray and sulphide-bearing. Vein hosted sulphide minerals consist dominantly of pyrite often in concentrations of 5% to 10% and rarely to more than 50%, but can also include occasional trace to 5% chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and minor galena. Quartz veins can consist of pure quartz ± sulphide material or contain varying amounts of wall rock as inclusions that if present are usually green, sericite altered and silicified to the point of textural destruction. These veins occur in all of the rock units mapped on the Elk Property (including some early dikes), but are more prevalent and best developed in the granodiorite and quartz monzonite that encompasses the historical and current bulk sample open pits.

The Elk Gold Project is envisioned to be developed as a conventional open pit mine. The operation will begin as a 70,000 t/a toll milling mine for three years. During Year 3 of operations, a 324,000 t/a mill will be constructed on site, which will commission starting in Year 4.

During Years 1 to 3, mineralized material is excavated from the open pit and placed on a limestone-capped stockpile pad. Material on the stockpile pad will be sampled and assayed for metal accounting before being shipped via highway dump trucks to a nearby mineral processing plant. Numerous potential mineral processing facilities exist within hauling distance of the Elk Gold Project.

It is anticipated that once the initial operation is underway, the owners will investigate and initiate an Environmental Assessment (EA) review, which would be required to expand the mine. This PEA envisages that by Year 4 of operations an EA Certificate will be received, and a 900 t/d processing plant will be assembled on site. The change to 900 t/d and on-site milling reduces the projected processing costs and therefore also decreases the mined cut-off grade.

Non-mineralized rock will be stockpiled in a rock management storage facility (RMSF) located west of the open pit, which is designed to have a low prominence and have 2H:1V slopes that will be capped with overburden and topsoil upon mine closure.

The total mine life will be 10 years, including processing 2.4 Mt of mineralized material grading 5.26 g/t Au and 8.78 g/t Ag. The plan includes 83.6 Mt of non-mineralized rock and an average strip ratio of 34.9 w:o.

Mining operations will be carried out by an owner-operated rental-leased fleet of mobile mining equipment including two 250 mm diameter blasthole drills, one 5 m3 front shovel, two 10 m3 front shovels, nine 136 tonne haul trucks, two 4 m wide blade track dozers, one 3.8 m blade rubber tire dozer, one motor grader, and one water truck.

Rock Management Storage Facility Design
Material below the cut-off grade is stored in one rock management storage facility (RMSF) located to the west of the open pit. The RMSF was designed with sufficient capacity to store the 84 Mt of non-mineralized material, assuming a loose density of 1.8 t/m3.

The WSF will be constructed in a series of 20 m lifts with 37° face slopes and catch berms on each lift, resulting in an overall slope of 26°.

Crushing
Mineralized material from the mining operations will feed a crushing plant that will consist of three stages of crushing. The plant will process 75 t/h of mineralized material, operate 16 hours per day, and produce a final product P80 of 10 mm.

Mineralized material will be stockpiled near the jaw crusher or direct dumped through a 500 mm static grizzly into a dump pocket. Stockpiled mineralized material will be fed into the crusher by a front-end loader. The mineralized material will discharge into a feed hopper. Oversize mineralized material from the static grizzly will be removed for later size reduction using a rock breaker.

The mineralized material from the hopper will be withdrawn by a grizzly feeder with the oversize feeding directly into a 30 x 42 jaw crusher with an installed power of 110 kW. The primary crusher has a closed sized setting (CSS) of 101 mm.

The Screen Feed Conveyor will collect crushed product from both stages of crushing and feed a 1.8 m x 6 m double-deck vibrating screen. The +14 mm mineralized material will be conveyed to the secondary crusher. The -14 mm final product, at an estimated P80 of 10 mm, will discharge onto a conveyor and transferred to a surge bin.

Secondary Crushing
Mineralized material from the secondary crusher feed conveyor will discharge into a cone crusher with an installed power of 160 kW. The secondary crusher will reduce the mineralized material to a nominal product P80 of approximately 42 mm using a CSS of 44 mm. Crushed product will be transferred to the screen feed conveyor and circulated back to the double-deck screen.

Crushed Material Surge Bin
The double-deck screen undersize, with a final P80 product size of 10 mm, will be conveyed to the surge bin. The bin will provide 900 tonnes, or 24 hours, of live storage capacity. A belt feeder, installed with variable frequency drives (VFD) to control the reclaim rate, will feed the grinding circuit at a rate of 42 t/h.

Grinding
The grinding circuit will consist of a 746-kW ball mill operating in reverse closed-circuit with a cluster of hydrocyclones. The grinding circuit will be able to process a nominal throughput of 42 t/h of fresh feed and produce a final product P80 of 150 µm.

The mill discharge will flow into the cyclone feed pump box and combine with the gravity concentrator tailings before being pumped up to a cluster of hydrocyclones for size classification. The coarse underflow will flow by gravity back to the ball mill for additional grinding and the gravity circuit, while the fine overflow, at a final product P80 of 150 µm, will report to the flotation circuit. The hydrocyclones have been designed for a 300% circulating load, with a portion of the feed sent to the gravity concentrator. Gravity concentrate will report to the concentrate thickener, and the gravity tailings back into the cyclone feed pump box.

The process plant will include:
- Two stages of crushing
- A single ball mill, grinding in reverse closed-circuit, with cyclones and a gravity circuit
- Rougher flotation and one stage of cleaner flotation
- Concentrate dewatering using thickeners and pressure filters
- Concentrate storage and load-out facilities.

The crushing plant will have a throughput of 900 t/d, with an average LOM head grade of 5.26 g/t Au and 8.77 g/t Ag. The crushing circuit will operate for 12 hours per day, with an hourly throughput of 75 t/h. The grinding and flotation circuits will operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, with an availability of 90%, and a design throughput of 42 t/h.

Flotation
Cyclone overflow will flow by gravity to the rougher circuit, which will provide 20 minutes of residence time. Frother MIBC and sulphide collector PAX, at natural pH, will be added to aid in flotation.

The slurry will flow through a bank of si ........