Huldra mill will open soon
Huldra Silver Inc., a Vancouver-based firm, broke ground near Merritt in November 2011, for the construction of a new mill on property formerly owned by Craigmont Mines.
Recently, Huldra CEO Ryan Sharp announced the soon-to-come opening of the mill.
Sharp had originally expected the mill to be operating in February this year.
Huldra has owned the Treasure Mountain Mine, about a 65-minute drive from Merritt and 15 kilometres east of the Coquihalla near Hope, since 1980. The company discovered a 250-metre silver vein at the time.
The company shipped 400 tonnes of ore to smelters instead of processing it near the site, which Sharp said is not an ideal location for a mill.
After the price for silver plummeted in the early 1980s, the company was relatively inactive for about 17 years.
The price is now at around $30 USD per ounce, compared to its $5 price tag in the early 80s, which lasted until 2004.
Roughly 100 employees are expected to work at the mill when it is fully operating.
Approximately 40 employees are working at the Huldra mine on any given day.
Sharp was hired by Huldra approximately two years ago.
Craigmont Mine ceased operations in 1984, which hit the Merritt economy hard. Since then, it has operated on a small scale and is expected to continue processing magnetite from waste or for the next two years.
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