Alexco Resource (TSX:AXR,NYSEAMERICAN:AXU) was once Canada’s only primary silver producer, churning the metal out at its Bellekeno mine in the Keno Hill Silver District.
But times changed. The company shut Yukon-based Bellekeno down at the end of 2013 after nearly three years of production, citing a variety of factors, including low silver prices.
Five years later, times are changing again. Alexco has been working on its assets in the Keno Hill area since Bellekeno’s closure, and the company believes it could be time to restart production in the area.
“We’ve been pretty active since [Bellekeno shut down], building up resources,” said Brad Thrall, president of Alexco, during a recent media tour of the company’s property. “We’ve got Flame & Moth, and now we’ve got Bermingham.” The site also includes the past-producing Lucky Queen deposit.
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released in March 2017 pegs Keno Hill’s life-of-mine output at 1,021,000 tonnes grading 843 g/t silver, 3.3 percent lead and 4.6 percent zinc. Bermingham has the highest grade at 220,000 tonnes grading 1,276 g/t silver, while Flame & Moth has the highest tonnage at 683,000 tonnes grading 666 g/t silver.
Bellekeno and Lucky Queen are smaller at 37,000 tonnes grading 747 g/t silver and 81,000 tonnes grading 1,206 g/t silver, respectively.
Making a stop while touring Alexco’s property.
Adding Flame & Moth, Bermingham and Lucky Queen to the production profile for Keno Hill addresses one of the issues that led to the closure of Bellekeno back in 2013. As Thrall explained, the mine shut down in part because it didn’t produce enough material to feed the company’s mill.
Now, he said, Alexco is much better equipped to do that. Under the mine plan outlined in last year’s PEA, the company will run 400 tonnes a day thro