About Blackwater
Operator : Artemis Gold (100%)
Acquisition Date : January 11, 2021
Acquisition Price: ~$3M
Terms
- 0.21% NSR royalty on all metals and minerals produced from mineral tenure 515809 which covers a portion of the Blackwater Gold project and the higher-grade starter pit area (southwest area of the deposit).
UPCOMING CATALYSTS & MILESTONES
- Q2 2021: GMP Power Transmission Line
- H2 2021: Definitive Feasibility Study
- Q3 2021: Final Fixed Price EPC Contracts
- Q1 2022: Final BC Mines Act and Federal Schedule 2 Amendment
- H1 2022: Start of Construction
Overview
The Property is located in central British Columbia, approximately 160 km southwest of Prince George, 446 km northeast of Vancouver and is accessible by major highway and access/service roads.
The Property is 100% owned and operated by Artemis Gold, ARTG-TSXV (the “Operator”).
The Proven & Probable Reserves currently stand at 334.0 million tonnes at grades of 0.75 g/t Gold and 5.8 g/t Silver for contained 8.0 million ounces of Gold and 62.3 million ounces of Silver.
Project Highlights
The Operator’s revised development approach includes a reduced initial development capital, a focus on high-grade starter zone located in the southwestern zone of the deposit and improved gold and silver recoveries.
Artemis Gold’s revised development approach includes:
- Reduced Initial Development Capital: Initial development capital reduced to $592 million for a 5.5 million tonnes-per-annum throughput operation with free cash flow from operations used to finance growth to full-scale project throughput of 20 million tonnes-per-annum.
- Focus on High-Grade Starter Zone in Years 1-7: With a smaller throughput to start, Artemis can focus on a 50.5 million tonnes high-grade starter zone in the southwestern part of the deposit with an average grade of 1.5 g/t Gold and a strip ratio of <2.0, for a shorter payback period, a higher after-tax IRR and improved free cash flow at the start of the mine life to finance expansion.
- Improved Gold and Silver Recoveries: Metallurgical optimization has identified improved gold and silver recoveries through the incorporation of gravity separation, increased cyanide utilization and a longer leach retention time.
- Improved Gold Price and Exchange Rates: A stronger gold price and a weaker CAD:US exchange rate both contribute to more robust project economics.
Project Development Schedule
PFS Phased Approach Highlights
The Potential Resource Upside
(Artemis: Highlighting The High Grade At Blackwater Technical presentation)
In November 2020, Artemis Gold began the first 35,000 metre grade control program which will focus on delineating an area in the southwestern portion of the Blackwater pit (scheduled in the 2020 PFS to be mined in year 1 of operations), which returned significant near surface high-grade mineralized intercepts.
The Blackwater Gold project has a high level of drilling density with more than 300,000 metres of diamond drilling previously completed, ultimately supporting its current 2020 PFS Mineral Resource estimate (with 75% of the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource in the Measured category). However, despite the extent of the drilling to date, the deposit remains open to potentially substantial expansion. As illustrated in figure below, the deposit remains open to the north, north-west and at depth in the southwest. The Operator plans to complete a limited diamond drill program in 2021 to test for extensions to the known mineralization of the deposit in the directions that remain open.
Sector View of Blackwater Mineralization and 2020 PFS Pit Walls
What is not reflected in the PFS released in August is the potential to expand the current pit shell to capture additional Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources at a higher gold price. Figure 6 below shows the additional Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources captured within a US$2,000/oz. pit shell.
If the price of gold remains elevated and potentially moves higher, there is substantial potential to increase the Mineral Reserve estimate at Blackwater without any further exploration.

