Eagle Mountain gold project, Guyana
Name and Location
Eagle Mountain gold project, Guyana.
Client
Goldsource Mines.
Project Description
Eagle Mountain hosts about 3.9-million tonnes, grading 1.49 g/t gold, for 188 000 oz in the indicated category, and 20.6-million tonnes, grading 1.19 g/t gold, for 792 000 oz in the inferred category.
About 40% of the project’s overall ounces comprise saprolite, or weathered ore, which could enable Goldsource to fast-track operations through low-cost gravity processing.
A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) completed on the Eagle Mountain project in 2014 envisages standard opencut mining using conventional mining equipment.
For Phase I, excavators, bulldozers and wheel loaders will excavate in situ soft weathered rock (saprolite) at a rate of 100 t/h and deliver the material to the in-pit grizzly, scrubber and screens, with sub-2 mm material being delivered by slurry line to the processing plant.
Material larger than 2 mm will be stockpiled for potential processing in the future.
No blasting or truck hauling will be required for mineralised saprolite, and no blasting will be required for waste. Waste material will be loaded and will be hauled by truck to a nearby storage facility.The strip ratio has been estimated at 0.9:1 (waste:mineralised saprolite). Top-soils will be prestripped and stockpiled near the opencuts for future reclamation purposes.
A single 1 000 t/d Sepro 10K gravity processing plant is envisioned for Phase I.
Generally, the plant consists of a grizzly, scrubber, screens and Falcon gravity concentrators.
Gold concentrate from the gravity concentrators will be further concentrated using a shaking table and refined on site for the production of doré bars.
Upon successful completion of Phase I, three similar plants will be sequentially installed to increase production to between 3 500 t/d and 4 000 t/d by year four.
Coarser-grained (larger than 2 mm) saprolite will be screened-out and stockpiled. Opportunities to increase production by crushing or milling stockpiled oversized material is possible, depending on further testwork. Additional testwork on potential flotation and cyanidation might also increase production.
The PEA estimates that the project will process about 7.3-million tonnes of ore at a head grade of 1.2 g/t, producing about 168 700 oz of gold at cash costs of $480/oz over the project’s life.
The conceptual approach entails yearly output over four years of 5 600 oz, 14 400 oz, 21 600 oz and 28 800 oz of gold respectively.
Goldsource will have an inventory of about 162 000 oz of gold in its settlement ponds, owing to the gravity processing, which could potentially be milled at a later date.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a base case pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $69.4-million and a pretax internal rate of return of 84%.
Value
Phase I was initially estimated at $5.9-million, this has been revised to between $4-million and $5-million.
Total capital costs, including the proposed Phase II, III and IV expansions, and sustaining capital, are estimated at $24.2-million.
Duration
Not stated.
Latest Developments
Construction at the Eagle Mountain gold project continues to progress well, with commissioning for Phase I production to take place during the fourth quarter.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.
On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.
Contact Details for Project Information
Goldsource Mines investor relations, Fred Cooper, tel +1 604 694 1760, fax +1 604 694-1761 or email info@goldsourcemines.com.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation