Pegasus Will Close Black Pine Mine

Pegasus Gold Corp. has announced the closure of its Black Pine gold mine near Burley, Idaho. The operation employed about 28 workers.

The project was shut down because it was “mining out its reserve base,” not in connection with recent financial troubles surrounding Pegasus, said John Pearson, vice president of investor and public relations.

Black Pine was scheduled to produce 45,000 ounces of gold in 1997. By comparison, the project yielded 108,000 ounces of gold during peak production in 1995.

Pegasus Gold suspended operations at the Mt. Todd gold mine in Australia in November and took a $353.3 million write-down for the third quarter because of lower-than-expected production and high costs. The Spokane-based gold company continues to operate the underground Diamond Hill mine in Nevada, as well as the Montana Tunnels project, a large, open-pit gold mine in Montana.

On Jan. 9, Pegasus announced its lenders had “accelerated” a revolving line of credit and considered an outstanding debt of $245 million payable. The company said it will file for bankruptcy if lenders in New York and Toronto press for immediate payment.

, DataTimes