First, one of the water pumps went down, the new replacement pump did not work, and we are still with just one pump. Nevertheless, I am told a new replacement is on its way. Second, the excavator went down for 10 days. After hunting down the leeks, pilot control hydraulic line leeks required replacing 2 new hydraulic lines. The excavator’s bucket cylinder needs to be resealed which is planned to be done the week before the Gilsum Rock Swap. We are slowly sorting out the equipment issues.

While the excavator was down, I spent more time drilling and blasting. Which we know have a backlog of blast rubble to process. The first shot at the upper Valade was dismal. Now I remember why I left that area to begin with. I still put another shot into the Valade quartz area. The shot did not kick up any crystal. However, we have not processed the blast pile yet so there is still hope for this area. The Wayne/Lee area is producing Beryl Crystal. I started widening the road into the W/L so we can effectively work this area into the pit. We also started benching off the upper W/L for the main pit ramp. We have also started dropping the W/L floor. The W/L floor depth will be dependent on the new wider W/L entrance and its slop.

Now that we are into the swing of mining and have refined the mining plan, we should make some good progress.
A plug for the Gilsum Rock Swap.
We will be having our silent auction with a lot of 09 & 10 specimen material. In addition, Wayne & Lee will have the loader there with its bucket full of Rose Quartz.
That’s it for now
Later
James S. Tovey
www.Toveco.com

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