BG Gold Capital II Corp.'s preliminary economic assessment for the Vickers deposit at the Whale Cove Gold Project describes a 10,000 tonne per day gravity and carbon-in-leach processing plant designed for cold-climate operation in Nunavut.
The Whale Cove Gold Project is an advanced-stage gold exploration project in Nunavut Territory, Canada, roughly 20 kilometres west of the Hamlet of Whale Cove and about 60 kilometres southwest of Rankin Inlet. BG Gold Capital II Corp. holds a 100 percent interest through its Canadian subsidiaries, Ice Ghost Gold Corp. and Whale Cove Gold Corp. The project is at the preliminary economic assessment stage, with the Vickers deposit as the primary development focus. The proposed operation would use conventional open-pit mining at an average rate of 10,000 tonnes per day over an approximate 14-year mine life. The technical report does not state expected construction timing.
Critical Data
| Parameter | Value | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Throughput | 10,000 | t/d | Estimated 3.5 Mtpa |
| Process design | Gravity-leach-CIL | Not applicable | Conventional flowsheet |
| Testwork campaigns | 2015, 2016, 2025 | Not applicable | Three phases completed |
| Maximum total gold recovery (testwork) | 99.6 | % | From combined gravity plus cyanide leach |
| Gravity recovery range (laboratory tests) | 36 to 73 | % | Reported in process selection justification |
| Average process recovery assumed | 93 | % | Design value |
| Combined gravity plus cyanidation recovery (2015/16 testwork) | 87.1 to 99.6 | % | Range across samples |
| Average combined recovery (2015/16 testwork) | 95 | % | All metallurgical testwork |
| Gravity recovery to pan concentrate (2016) | 14 to 84 | % | 23 tests, average 52% |
| Heap leach bottle roll gold dissolution | 66 | % | Average after 10 days, six samples of minus 2 mm material |
| Gravity and cyanide leach of gravity tailings (2025) | 85.5 to 99.7 | % | Eight composites, average gold dissolution 93% |
| Gravity plus flotation (2025) | 96 | % | Average overall recovery, five tests on master composite |
| Energy demand | 20 | MW | Estimate |
| Power supply | Diesel-generated | Not applicable | Stated in summary section |
Overview
The recovery method described in the PEA is a conventional gravity-leach-CIL flowsheet, which the report says was refined through three phases of metallurgical testing identified as KM4619, KM4934, and KM7495. The circuit includes one-stage crushing, grinding, pebble crushing, gravity recovery, thickening, carbon-in-leach cyanidation, electrowinning, and tailings deposition. The design is intended for cold-climate operation and follows configurations used at benchmark northern Canadian mines.
Metallurgical testwork was completed by ALS Metallurgy in Kamloops. The 2015 and 2016 programs used 33 composite samples of drill core from the Vickers deposit, with gold grades ranging from 0.73 to 25.5 grams per tonne. Later work in 2025 used 23 samples collected as sequential samples meant to represent mining rock types and grades, with testwork covering gravity, heap leach bottle rolls, cyanidation, and flotation.
Key Process Stages
Run-of-mine ore enters a one-stage crushing circuit and is stored in a fine ore bin before being conveyed to the grinding circuit. That bin acts as a buffer between crushing and grinding, which helps maintain a consistent feed rate.
The grinding circuit uses a SAG mill and ball mill in closed circuit with cyclones. A pebble recycle system returns oversize material either to the SAG mill or to the pebble crusher.
Centrifugal concentrators recover free gold before the slurry reaches the leach circuit. The report states this enhances early gold capture and reduces the leach load, with coarse, liberated gold extracted before downstream processing.
Cyclone overflow feeds a thickener and then moves to a multi-stage CIL circuit. A pre-aeration stage oxidizes reduced chemical species in the slurry, which improves cyanide efficiency during leaching. Gold adsorbs onto activated carbon across multiple tanks that provide sufficient residence time.
Loaded carbon goes through acid wash and elution, followed by electrowinning. Regenerated carbon returns to the CIL circuit.
Tailings pass through cyanide destruction using SO₂/air or an equivalent system, and the detoxified slurry discharges to a tailings storage facility. The report indicates this treatment ensures effluent meets regulatory discharge standards before storage.
Additional Interesting Data and Summary
Three metallurgical test campaigns confirmed the ore is free-milling. The 2015 and 2016 work found gold recoveries to a pan concentrate ranged from about 14 percent to 84 percent, with an average of 52 percent across 23 tests in 2016. Combined gravity plus cyanide leaching on tails ranged from 87.1 percent to 99.6 percent. The average combined recovery for all 2015/16 metallurgical testwork was 95 percent.
The 2025 program produced somewhat different results. Bottle roll tests on six samples of minus 2 mm material, meant to simulate heap leaching, gave an average gold dissolution of 66 percent after 10 days. Gravity and cyanide leach tests on eight composites showed lower gravity recoveries than the earlier work, with overall recoveries of 85.5 percent to 99.7 percent and an average gold dissolution of 93 percent. Five preliminary gravity plus flotation tests on a master composite yielded an average overall gold recovery of 96 percent.
The process selection justification in the report cites total gold recoveries reaching up to 99.6 percent, with gravity recoveries of 36 to 73 percent from laboratory tests. The report also notes that cyanide and lime consumption levels measured during testwork were moderate. The flowsheet demonstrated effective gold extraction under both fine and coarse particle leach conditions, which the report says could allow future heap leach or hybrid configurations.
The process design assumes 93 percent average recovery. Energy demand is estimated at 20 MW with diesel-generated power. No current mineral reserves are disclosed for the Vickers deposit or the Whale Cove property. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied that would allow them to be categorized as mineral reserves.
The circuit design aligns with proven configurations at northern Canadian operations, which the report cites as validation for the Whale Cove setting. The flowsheet incorporates features intended to ensure reliability, with the fine ore bin, pebble recycle system, pre-aeration stage, and cyanide destruction step all described as contributing to consistent operation and environmental performance.
Key Processes
- One-stage primary crushing with fine ore storage bin
- SAG mill and ball mill in closed circuit with cyclones
- Pebble recycle system returning oversize to SAG mill or pebble crusher
- Centrifugal concentrators for gravity recovery of free gold
- Thickening ahead of CIL circuit
- Pre-aeration to oxidize reduced species before cyanidation
- Multi-stage carbon-in-leach circuit with activated carbon adsorption
- Acid wash, elution, and electrowinning for gold recovery
- Carbon regeneration and recycle to CIL
- Tailings cyanide destruction using SO₂/air or equivalent
- Discharge of detoxified slurry to tailings storage facility
Source: Whale Cove Project Preliminary Economic Assessment, July 6, 2026. Project website: Whale Cove Gold Project
