CANAMAX, PACIFIC TRANS-OCEAN APPROVE PRODUCTION <Canamax Resources Inc> and <Pacific Trans-Ocean Resources Ltd> said they conditionally approved starting production at their jointly owned Ketza River gold deposit in the Yukon after a study recommended the move. They said production was conditional on approval of a water license and arrangement of appropriate financing. They estimated development costs for the mine and mill would total 21.1 mln dlrs, including three mln dlrs of working capital. The feasibility study anticipated gold production of 49,600 ounces a year at a cost of 129 Canadian dlrs a short ton, they said. Canamax and Pacific Trans-Ocean said the project would yield a 40 pct after-tax real rate of return at a gold price of 400 U.S. dlrs an ounce. They said they would mine 460,000 tonnes of proven and probable mineable reserves of oxide ore grading 0.45 ounce gold ton at a yearly rate of 112,000 tonnes for a mine life of 4.25 years. Possible reserves of 75,000 tonnes grading 0.38 ounce gold ton at the break zone would extend mine life by a year, with considerable potential for development of further oxide ore reserves at the deposit, they said.