Ximen Mining Corp (CVE:XIM) (OTCMKTS:XXMMF) updated Friday on the further progress being made at its Kenville gold mine project in Nelson, British Columbia.
The firm wants to bring back to life the former underground mine, which reportedly produced 65,236 ounces of gold and 27,686 ounces of silver intermittently between 1889 and 1956.
READ: Ximen Mining says metallurgical test results from Kenville project show potential overall gold recovery of 99%
In March, Ximen said it would start by refurbishing the existing portal at the 257 level of the mine and on Friday the firm revealed that this work has started.
This refurbishment is needed before a new decline can be constructed once Ximen receives final regulatory approval for its development program.
In Friday's brief statement, Ximen said it had recently bought a steel culvert for installation at the portal. Once assembled it will be transported to the site in early June
The new culvert is around 3 meters in diameter and 10 meters in length and is constructed of sections that are bolted together, the firm said.
It will be installed at the rock face and will extend outward with engineered backfill placed on either side.
On May 22, Ximen reported encouraging metallurgical test results from its Kenville project, which showed material responded " exceptionally" well to gravity and flotation processing methods.
The test work started by getting together a sample composited from Kenville mineralization, which used portions of high and low-grade material, to get a sample at the sort of grade expected when bulk sampling begins.
The resultant composite assayed 16.27 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 35.60 g/t silver.
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