The Blackwater gold mine. Credit: Artemis Gold
Artemis Gold (TSXV: ARTG) shares skyrocketed to an all-time high Friday after the company said it had begun commercial production at its Blackwater open pit mine in central British Columbia, three months after pouring first gold.
Blackwater’s crushing circuit has reached a 17,700-tonne-per-day (tpd) rate, achieving more than full design capacity over the past 30 days, Artemis said. The mill has reached about 15,300 tpd or 93% of capacity.
“We completed construction in an industry-leading 22 months, and the team achieved commercial production in a remarkable three months from commencement of milling operations,” Artemis chair and CEO Steven Dean said in a release.
He added that the company will soon focus on potentially speeding up the proposed second stage expansion, which is expected to raise the mine’s average annual output to more than…
