Bellekeno silver mine opens in Yukon

The Yukon's newest silver mine is officially open, with Alexco Resources Corp. announcing Thursday that its Bellekeno mine has begun production.

The silver-lead-zinc mine, located 330 kilometres north of Whitehorse in central Yukon, began commercial mining operations on Jan. 1, the Vancouver-based company said.

About 130 people are working both underground and above-ground at the mine site, Alexco president Clynton Nauman told CBC News.

"The Yukon can be proud that it's the location of the only primary silver producing mine in Canada, and it's going to be one of the highest-grade silver producing mines in the world," Nauman said Thursday.

The Bellekeno mine is in Yukon's Keno Hill historic silver district, which produced more than 217 million ounces of silver between 1921 and 1988, according to the company.

The mine's mill is processing 250 tonnes of ore daily, but Nauman said Alexco is continuing to explore for more deposits in the Keno area.

"We're here for the long haul," he said. "This district was in production for 60, 70 years, up until the end of the 1980s, and we would hope to be there for as long again."

The mine's ore concentrate is being shipped through the port of Skagway in Alaska. Nauman said the company is currently sending about one truck a day.