The Point Rousse Complex is host to orogenic-style gold mineralization. Mineralization comprises both vein-hosted and altered-wall rock or replacement styles of mineralization and both exhibit features common to orogenic gold deposits. The mineralization is typically structurally controlled and developed within subsidiary deformation zones, such as the Scrape Trust Fault, to major regional structures, like the Baie Verte – Brompton Line fault. gold mineralization is intimately associated with disseminated and massive pyrite within the host rock indicating that iron rich rocks are an important precursor to mineralization. Alteration within mafic volcanic and gabbroic rocks can be is characterized by albitization and carbonitization. Iron and titanium rich lithologies associated with the Scrape Thrust are typical host rocks.

The Point Rousse gold mineralization exhibits relatively narrow, but distinctive alteration haloes dominated by Fe-carbonate, albite, sericite, chlorite and leucoxene (Plate 9). The ore mineralogy is relatively simple and is generally comprised of non-refractory gold either as free gold or as coatings on, or along fractures/grain boundariesin pyrite. Silver and base metals can be present in minor amounts and the deposits typically exhibit only trace arsenic.

Pine Cove Mine
The geological setting of the Pine Cove Mine area is characterized by greenschist facies mafic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rocks and minor iron formation; part of the Snooks Arm Group. In the immediate mine area the rocks can be informally divided into five distinct units that dip gently to the north.

Mineralization is associated with a broad alteration envelope characterized by broad zones of very finegrained calcite and chlorite. Proximal to mineralization fine wispy orange-brown leucoxene is common in intrusive rocks and is either chaotically oriented or rotated and flattened parallel to the foliation. Where alteration is most intense, and gold mineralization occurs, iron-carbonate is pervasive, variably developed, brecciated, quartz-veins and quartz-carbonate veins are observed as well as albite. Pyrite is part of the alteration assemblage and intimately associated with gold mineralization.

Pyrite occurs marginal to the quartz veins, disseminated within wall rock fragments incorporated in the veins, and as minor disseminated pyrite within the quartz veins. The gold concentrations are directly related to pyrite content. The gold occurs as small disseminated grains (ranging from 1 to 50 microns) within pyrite, quartz veins and as thin stringers.

Stog’er Tight
D3 deformation produced F3 mesoscopic northward-verging asymmetric folds that affect all the D1/D2 fabrics, shear zones and related alteration. The F3 folds trend roughly southeast and plunge shallowly to the northwest and southeast. The associated S3 axial planar cleavage dips gently towards the south and cuts the S2 fabric. D4 deformation produced asymmetric to tight, generally north verging folds with subhorizontal to gently south-dipping axial surfaces. The D4 deformation is marked by broad regional northnortheast-trending anticlines and synclines which affect D1 through D3-relatedstructures and impart a doubly geometry to many of the pre-existing folds. S4 is a roughly northeast-trending fracture cleavage.

Four alteration zones are recognized (Ramezani, 1992). These include; i) a chlorite-calcite zone, ii) an ankerite-sericite zone, iii) a chlorite-magnetite zone, and IV a red albite-pyrite (+gold) zone. The fourth zone of albitization is readily observed in outcrop even from a distance and results in the rocks having a general pink appearance that is readily mapped. Locally leucoxene is observed as part of the alteration assemblage. Quartz veins occur within the mineralized zones both as barren tension gash veins, which are interpreted to postdate the mineralization, and as shear-parallel, quartz– albite–ankerite veins.

The gold within the Stog’er Tight Deposit occurs as fine-grained (<.05 mm) micro veinlets and disseminated blebs within the coarse pyrite aggregates. Visible gold was observed as rare very delicate flakes localized within weathered-out pyrite cubes and in narrow quartz veins. Generally, higher grades are associated with coarse mottled pyrite.

Argyle Deposit
The Argyle Deposit is underlain by mafic volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Scrape Point and Bobby Cove Formations of the Snooks Arm Group. The main lithological units consist of clinopyroxene-phyric lapilli and crystal tuff, ash tuff, and massive flows with interbedded green mudstones. The sequence is cut by gabbroic sills and dykes of variable grain size, composition, and thickness. The gabbro is interpreted to belong to a suite of Ordovician aged intrusive rocks that are similar in age (ca. 483 Ma) to that previously dated by Ramezani (1992) from the nearby Stog’er Tight Deposit. Rock units in the area generally dip towards the north-northwest and are east-west to northeast striking. The rocks are variably deformed, with foliation intensity varying from weakly developed to proto-mylonitic. The Argyle Deposit is located in the hanging wall of the nearby Scrape Thrust that outcrops along the highway 200-300 m to the south.

Gold is localized at Argyle due to its proximity to the Scrape Thrust and localization of fault splays within the host gabbro. The gently north dipping host gabbro is albite, pyrite, rutile and sericite altered, quartz veined and pyritized 40-50 m thick.

The gabbro is magnetic and contains discrete zones of magnetite destruction associated with zones of hydrothermal alteration and gold mineralization. The zone of hydrothermal alteration is centered within the host gabbro, is broadly symmetrical, and can be classified into four subzones. The subzones are differentiated and proceeded in terms of alteration intensity and proximity to ore. From distal to proximal these include: 1) patchy epidote-albite-magnetite; 2) epidote-albite-chlorite 3) epidote-albite-chloriterutile (leucoxene); 4) pervasive albite-muscovite-Fe-carbonate-black chlorite ± pyrite ± gold and quartz veins. Zone four is typically the host gold mineralization. Gold is intimately associated with pyrite, generally residing on pyrite grain margins and along fractures within pyrite. In general, the alteration zone is typically between 5-40 m thick (Copeland et al., 2017).

The zone of mineralization defined to date has a current strike length of 685 m and has been defined down-dip for 225 metres.

There has been continuous mining and gold production at the Point Rousse Project since 2009 primarily from the Pine Cove Mine but also from the Stog’er Tight and Argyle Mines. Commercial Production began at the Pine Cove Mine on September 1, 2010. Mining at the Pine Cove Mine concluded in October of 2020 with a total of 154,540 ounces produced. Mining at Stog’er Tight produced 18,318 ounces from mining activity from 2016 to 2019.

ARGYLE MINE
The Argyle Mine is an open pit mine consisting of traditional drill and blast operations followed by transport of ore by haul trucks to the crusher run of mine pad and transport of waste to the waste rock piles. On average, between 10,000 and 12,000 tpd of waste and ore is mined.

Anaconda employs its own technical staff (engineering and geological) who plan and supervise the mining operations. They are responsible for all day-to-day operations including grade control, blast design and layout, surveying, and environmental monitoring. Longer term planning is done in conjunction with Mine and Engineering Superintendent (mine engineer). Other technical support, such as resource/reserve estimates and geotechnical studies relating to slope stability and tailings pond design, is contracted as needed.

Anaconda uses a local contract miner, Guy J. Bailey Ltd. (“Bailey”), which operates on a single 1210-hour dayshift, 7 days a week. The primary equipment fleet includes seven John Deere 410E trucks (38 tonnes), two shovels and two bulldozers. Approximately 28 people are employed directly and indirectly in the trucking of ore. Bailey is also responsible for ramp/road maintenance and snow clearing.

Blasting operations are contracted to NL Hard Rok which typically has seven employees on site. Production and pre-shear drilling is completed using an Sandvik Dxi900 Ranger, 4 inch top hammer drill. Production holes are typically drilled on a 3 by 3 m pattern with a bench height of 6 m. Explosives used include Titan XL 1000 bulk emulsion for production blasting and Unimax Dynamite for pre-shear blasting. Nonel EZ DET detonators and Trojan Brand Cast boosters are used. There are generally four blasts per week.

VHF radios with a dedicated channel are used to communicate within the pit and between the pit and the mine office.

Ore is hauled via a single 15 m wide ramp (10% grade) to the ore storage area adjacent to the mill. Oversize material is broken using an excavator-mounted buster. The broken ore is fed into the primary crusher using a dedicated loader. There are several waste rock dumps adjacent to the open pit.

The pit is subject to quite variable influxes of surface water (rain and melting snow). Water is pumped from the bottom of the pit to the polishing pond using a 2 – 6 inch, 60 horsepower submersible pump in series, with a capacity of 650 gallons per minute.

The main access ramps are designed at a 10% gradient to accommodate rear wheel drive haulage trucks. The 18 m wide ramps are designed to facilitate two-way truck traffic at all points, assuming a John Deere 410E production haulage truck with a 38-tonne capacity. Final pit bottom access ramps are designed at a gradient of –10% and a width of 12 m to accommodate one-way traffic used to access final benches.

Low Grade Ore Stockpile – Marginal Ore
There are two low-grade ore stockpiles. One is located on the slope to the southwest of the mill site while the second is built on the top of the South Mill Dump. The low-grade ore stockpiles are used to store lower grade ore that is considered marginally economic to mill at the time it is mined. The material will be milled if or when economic or processing conditions improve or if there is a disruption in the supply of higher grade ore to the mill.

Argyle Waste Rock Pile
The waste dump at Argyle site is located to the south of the open pit and will be constructed as an ECB. The ECB will be constructed to provide a protective barrier between the Town of Ming’s Bight and Argyle Pit. The ECB was designed using an embankment slope of 1.5:1, 3 m catchment berm widths, and 6 m bench heights (overall slope of 2:1). The total capacity of the planned berm is approximately 2.6 M t. The pit is expected to accommodate approximately 1.2M tonnes. Total waste from the pit is currently estimated at 2.8 M tonnes. This leaves an additional waste quantity which will be utilized for road construction and site development.

The location of the waste dump was determined based on the nature of the deposit. Drilling to the south of the deposit resulted in no intersections with mineralized material resulting in ore. As well, it is known (from drilling results) that the deposit is open to the east and west, and at depth dipping toward the north. Therefore, all infrastructures were located to the south of the pit (ore, waste, organics, roads).

The ECB was also offset 15 m – 30 m from the crest of the steep embankment between the Argyle site
and HWY 418 (Ming’s Bight Road).

Waste stockpile (ECB) inspections will take place on an annual basis to ensure safety and stability, as is done at Pine Cove operations. These inspections will be completed by a third-party geotechnical consultant. As well, a geotechnical and stability assessment was completed for the waste dump/ECB design by GEMTEC, with the proposed design being acceptable. The stability analysis also incorporates the steep slope along HWY 418 to ensure there will be no adverse effects on the slope/road due to the location of the waste dump/ECB. Anaconda will incorporate all recommendations into the construction of the ECB/waste dump.

Ore is fed to the crushing plant via front end loader, where it first enters a jaw crusher. After crushing, a conveyor takes the ore to a screen deck, where the fine material is separated. Oversize ore is recirculated through a cone crusher until it reaches the desired top size of 3/8 inches.

Ore from the crushed stockpile is then fed to the primary ball mill via conveyor belt, and typically averages 1.0 to 2.0 g/t gold. The ball mill is charged with 2 inch and 3 inch balls, and grinds material to a K80 of 150 micron. Material from the ball mill is pumped through a cyclone, where liberated material is fed into the flotation circuit via an overflow. Any coarse material is returned to the ball mill.

The Pine Cove Mill operates as a grind/flotation circuit followed by leaching. Comminution is via a two-stage crushing plant followed by a 10 feet by 14 feet primary ball mill, which processes an average of 1,350 tpd of ore. Cyclone overflow feeds the flotation circuit, with three column cells for roughing, one scavenger/staged reactor cell, and one cleaner cell. The concentrator has a flotation circuit which produces a gold-pyrite concentrate that advances to the leach circuit. Mass concentration is typically 1.5 to 2.0%, with a recovery of 92 to 93%. Flotation concentrate is thickened in a 4.5 metre diameter thickener and reground in a 5.5 feet by 10 feet diameter ball mill down to a P80 of 20 microns. Leaching is conducted in a series of four 75 m3, mechanically-agitated leach tanks. Two drum filters and a Merrill-Crowe circuit are used for gold recovery from the pregnant solution. Cyanide destruction of leach tailings is achieved through the Inco SO2 process. The mill currently ach ........