Surface facilities at the Phoenix underground mine near Red Lake, Ontario. (Photo: Rubicon Minerals)

The Vancouver, Canada-based company said construction of the mill had been completed and mill circuit commissioning was progressing satisfactorily, processing low-grade mineralized material. The company expected the commissioning phase to be completed in early July.

In addition, an initial 8,023 m of planned underground development at the underground project, located at Red Lake, Ontario, was completed on June 5. The company planned to begin stoping on the 244- and 305-m levels, following the completion of the commissioning phase. The main objective is to optimize the stoping method and establish best stoping practices in a controlled environment before increasing tonnage toward permitted capacity. The information gathered from the initial stopes will allow better design and sequencing of future stopes, according to Rubicon.