The Omagh project in Northern Ireland has commenced its first series of stopes, officially kicking off production at the operation, confirmed owner Galantas Gold.
Said to be the territory’s first gold mine, Omagh has begun longhole drilling, with installation of the secondary egress from the 1,096 to 1,052 level in the final stage of completion. It is projected to be commissioned in about two weeks, followed by stope blasting.
The mine has a series of five stopes, which will be mined in the first block. Backfill will be performed with cemented rockfill. The stopes will be mined between the 1,072 and 1,060 levels on the Kearney Vein.
CEO Mario Stifano called the achievement its “next significant phase” in its growth plan.
“Galantas is uniquely positioned to deliver gold production while we grow our high-grade gold resources and unlock the full potential of a newly emerging high-grade gold district,” Stifano said.
Meanwhile, Galantas said its first series of accredited training courses through the Mineral Products Qualification Council (MPQC) has been completed and a group of miners from the project have received their certificates.
The training, which meets requirement by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) for implementing formalized training courses in all mines, includes shotfiring, jumbo drilling, operation of load-haul-dump (LHD) equipment, truck driving, services installation and shotcreting.
Source: galantas.com