Rubicon Minerals (TSX: RMX; US-OTC: RBYCF) has begun processing between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of mineralized bulk sample taken from the F2 deposit at its Phoenix gold project near Red Lake, Ontario.
It expects to finish processing the bulk sample in 2018's third quarter and reconcile a new block model in the fourth quarter.
The company has spent the past several weeks getting its 1,250 tonnes per day mill up and running. It has already processed 5,000 tonnes of development material.
This past April the company boosted the measured and indicated resource by 113% and the inferred resource by 80% at Phoenix after reinterpreting the project's geological model. The company believes the change may support larger scale underground mining.
The project has 1.4 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 6.37 grams gold per tonne for 281,000 oz. gold, as well as 3.9 million inferred tonnes at 6 grams gold for 749,000 oz. gold - all at a 3 grams gold cut-off grade.
The company has drilled half of its planned 20,000-metre 2018 drill campaign. It spent $5.5 million on underground development, drilling and related fees in the second quarter of 2018, up from $5.1 million in the first quarter. It expects to spend more on exploration and evaluation in the third quarter, citing increased activity from the bulk sampling.
The company is currently drilling from F2's 685-metre level.
Shares of Rubicon are currently trading at $1.35, within a 52-week range of $1.05 and $1.88. The company has a $86 million market capitalization. It has $14.6 million in cash.