S pring 20 1 8 11
to acquire and advance the Brucejack
project. McNaughton and Konkin moved
over to Pretium in January 2011. Over the
next few years, Pretium would complete
almost 600 more surface drill holes and
800 underground drill holes, numerous
academic studies and a bulk sample
program to define the existing resource
and reserves. Amazingly, fewer than
eight years elapsed from the recognition
of the deposit in December 2009 until
the first gold was poured in June 2017.
E.A. SCHOLZ AWARD
JOSEPH OVSENEK,
DAVID PRINS AND KEVIN TORPY
Joseph Ovsenek, David Prins and Kevin
Torpy are the recipients of the 2017 E.A.
Scholz Award. This award is given to those
who have made a significant contribution
toward the development of a mining
operation in British Columbia and/or Yukon.
The Brucejack mine is a 2,700-tonne-
per-day high-grade underground gold
mine located in northwestern British
Columbia, approximately 65 kilometres
north of Stewart. With a life-of-mine gold
grade of 14.1 g/t, a total gold reserve of
8.7 million ounces, a discounted (five
per cent) post-tax net present value
of US$1.53 billion and a projected all-
in sustaining cash cost of US$446 per
ounce of gold, Brucejack is truly one of
the top Canadian mining development
success stories of the past decade.
The Brucejack area had been a focus
for exploration by various operators since
the 1960s, with extensive drilling and
underground development completed at
the property's West Zone, near the area of
the current mine. Following intersections of
bonanza-grade gold mineralization from step-
out drilling in 2009 and 2010, Pretium was
formed to acquire and advance the project
in late 2010. Aggressive drilling programs
in 2011 and 2012 continued to demonstrate
the presence of high-grade visible gold,
so existing underground workings were
rehabilitated to facilitate excavation of an
underground ramp leading from the historic
West Zone area to the new VOK deposit. By
2014, the accelerated exploration program
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