Claude Resources
Mining
Claude’s producing asset is the 100 percent owned and operated Seabee Gold Project located at Laonil Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada approximately 125 kilometres northeast of the town of La Ronge.
Claude commenced commercial production at the Seabee Gold Mine in December 1991. The Seabee Mine is a narrow vein, underground operation. Production at the Seabee Operation has grown to include feedstock from the Seabee Mine and the Santoy 8 Mine. Production from the newly developed Santoy 8 Mine will enable the Company to grow its production profile beyond 70,000 ounces over the next 5 years. During 2009, a total of 247,641 tonnes of ore was milled, grading 6.17 grams per tonne and producing 46,827 ounces of gold.
Since start-up, the Seabee operation has produced approximately 900,000 ounces of gold.
Over the previous five year period the Company achieved average annual production at Seabee of 45,680 produced ounces, or an average of 11,420 produced ounces per quarter. Recent production results indicate that an escalation of historical production can be achieved and sustained.
The following table details the operations data of the Seabee mine for the last 5 years:
| Seabee Mine Operating Data | |||||||||
| 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | |||||
| Ore Milled (tonnes) (1) | 247,641 | 228,400 | 227,700 | 253,600 | 236,400 | ||||
| Grade processed (grams per tonne) | 6.17 | 6.46 | 6.35 | 6.16 | 6.32 | ||||
| Mill Recoveries (%) | 95.3 | 95.8 | 95.4 | 93.6 | 92.9 | ||||
| Gold Produced (ounces) (1) | 46,827 | 45,500 | 44,300 | 47,000 | 44,600 | ||||
| Gold Sold (ounces) (2) | 43,631 | 44,100 | 40,200 | 47,400 | 42,200 | ||||
| Cash Cost (US$/ounce of gold sold) (3) | $613 | $683 | $586 | $396 | $358 |
(1) Includes amounts from the Santoy and Porky Lake bulk samples.
(2) Excludes amounts from the Santoy 7 and Porky Lake bulk samples.
(3) The Company reports its operating costs on a per-ounce basis based on uniform standards developed by the Gold Institute. Management uses this measure to analyze the profitability (compared to average realized gold prices) of the Seabee mine, before depreciation, depletion and accretion. When evaluating this profitability measure, investors should be aware that no provision has been made for exploration or development costs.