Engineering & Mining Journal

JUN 2013

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/136091

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 49 of 171

NEWS-CONTINUED (Latin America Regional News - from p. 24) solution. Construction at the project cannot resume until Barrick has built a wastewater management system to the specifications of its permit. The May 24 SMA announcement cited five specific violations of environmental requirements at Pascua-Lama. The announcement also stated that Barrick had reported some of its environmental failures but that investigation by the agency's inspectors found that Barrick's disclosures were not entirely correct, truthful or verifiable. Barrick acknowledged receipt of the SMA resolution, reported that it was reviewing the resolution in detail, and said it was fully committed to complying with all aspects of the resolution and to operating at the highest environmental standards. McEwen Plans Expansion at El Gallo 1 McEwen Mining announced in mid-May that it plans to expand mine production at its El Gallo 1 gold-silver mine in Sinaloa, Mexico, from 3,000 to approximately 4,500 mt/d of ore. The expansion, along with improvements in ore grade, is expected to increase the mine's production from an estimated 27,300 gold equivalent oz in 2013 to approximately 37,500 oz in 2014 and 75,000 oz in 2015. El Gallo 1 poured its first gold in September 2012 and achieved commercial production on January 1, 2013. During the first quarter of 2013, the mine produced 6,673 oz of gold and 5,640 oz of silver (6,781 gold equivalent oz). Initial capital cost for the expansion to 4,500 mt/d is estimated at about $5 million, which McEwen can finance internally. The primary driver of the El Gallo 1 expansion is the mine's recently discovered Central Zone. Drill intercepts in the zone have included 23 m of 5.7 g/mt gold and 21 m of 3.9 g/mt gold. McEwen is also evaluating the potential for shipping ore from the El Gallo 2 deposit, 5 km from El Gallo 1, to El Gallo 1 for processing. The company had previously contemplated building a stand-alone processing operation at El Gallo 2 and completed a feasibility study for such an operation in September 2012. Capital cost for a stand-alone El Gallo 2 plant was estimated at about $170 million. The current evaluation will focus on silver recoveries and crushing/processing costs. Early column processing tests have indicated recoveries of 45% to 62% silver from El Gallo 2 ore processed at El Gallo 1, while agitated cyanide leaching tests performed during the El Gallo 2 feasibility study showed recoveries greater than 80%. The McEwen announcement of the El Gallo 1 expansion stated, "There are significant risks and uncertainty associated with expanding production without a feasibility or pre-feasibility study. The proposed El Gallo 1 production expansion has not been explored, developed or analyzed in sufficient detail to complete an independent feasibility or pre-feasibility study and may ultimately be determined to lack one or more geological, engineering, legal, operating, economic, social, environmental, or other relevant factors reasonably required to serve as the basis for a final decision to complete the development of all or part of the El Gallo 1 expansion." NEWS-CALENDAR OF EVENTS JUNE 24–29, 2013: 49th Forum on the Geology of Industrial Minerals, Kingston, Jamaica. Contact: Dr. Oral Rainford (orainford@mstem.gov.jm) or Shanique K-A Graham (sgraham@mstem.gov.jm); Web: www.geologyofindustrialminerals.org/. JULY 28–AUGUST 2, 2013: Mercury 2013, Edinburgh, Scotland. Contact: Marcus Pattison; Tel: 44 (0) 1727 858840; Fax: 44 (0) 1727 840310; Email: info@mercury2013.com; Web: www.mercury2013.com. JULY 30–AUGUST 1, 2013: 32nd International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Contact: West Virginia University, Department of Mining Engineering; Tel: 304-293-3901; Fax: 304-293-5708; Web: http://icgcm.conferenceacademy.com/custom/icgcm/Home.aspx. AUGUST 11–15, 2013: 23rd World Mining Congress, Montreal, Canada. Contact: Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum; Tel: 514-939-2710, ext. 1309; Email: wmc-secretariat@wmc-expo2013.org; Web: www.cim.org. AUGUST 20–23, 2013: AIMEX 2013 Asia-Pacific's International Mining Exhibition, Sydney, Australia. Contact: Reed Exhibitions Australia; Tel: 61 2 9211 7544; Email: aimex@reedexhibitions.com.au; Web: www.aimex.com.au. SEPTEMBER 4–6, 2013: China International Mining Expo 2013, Beijing, China. Contact: Beijing Hiven Exhibition Co. Ltd.; Tel: 86-10-6863 8450; Email: information_bj@163.com; Web: www.bjminexpo.com. SEPTEMBER 11–12, 2013: EuroMining 2013, Tampere, Finland. Contact: Tampere Trade Fairs/Mikael Wänskä; Tel: 358 207 701 230; Email: mikael.wanska@tampereenmessut.fi; Web: www.euromining.fi. SEPTEMBER 16–20, 2013: Extemin, Lima, Peru. Contact: El Instituto de Ingenieros de Minas del Perú; Tel: (51 -1) 349 4262, ext 352; Email: perumine@iimp.org; Web: www.iimp.org.pe. 48 E&MJ; • JUNE 2013 SEPTEMBER 16–20, 2013: XV International Congress for Mine Surveying, Aachen, Germany. Contact: RWTH Aachen, Institute for Mine Surveying; Tel: 49 241 80 95687; Fax: 49 241 80 92150; Web: www.ism-germany-2013.de. SEPTEMBER 23–26, 2013: Exposibram, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Contact: Kallman Worldwide Inc.; Tel: 201-251-2600 ext. 127 or 56 2 843 3300 ext.3303; Web: www.kallman.com. SEPTEMBER 25–27, 2013: IX Colombia Minera-Feria Internacional Minera 2013, Medellín, Colombia. Contact: Carmen Henríquez Brugés; Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia–ANDI; Tel: 57 4 3265100 ext. 1154; Email: chenriquez@andi.com.co. SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 2, 2013: Solution Mining Research Institute Fall Technical Conference, Avignon, France. Contact: John Voigt;Tel: 570-585-8092; Email: smri@solutionmining.org; Web: www.solutionmining.org. OCTOBER 1–3, 2013: Minex Russia 2013, Moscow, Russia. Contact: Irina Yukhtina; Tel: 44 (0)207 520 9341; Fax: 44 (0)207 520 9342; Email: ira.y@minexforum.com; Web: www.minexrussia.com. OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 2, 2013: Mining 2013 Myanmar, Yangon, Myanmar. Contact: Shaun White, Allworld Exhibitions; Tel: 44 2078402130; Email: swhite@oesallworld.com; Web: www.miningmyanmar.com. NOVEMBER 27–29, 2013: IX International Heavy Minerals Conference 2013, Vishakapatanam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Contact: Mining Engineer's Association of India; Tel: 08942-283755; Email: heavymineralsconference@gmail.com; Web: www.meai.org. AUGUST 2–8, 2014: 10th Mine Ventilation Congress, Sun City, South Africa. Contact: IMVC 2014 Congress Secretariat; Tel: 27 (0)21 683 2934; Fax: 27 (0)21 683 0816; Email: info@imvc2014.org; Web: www.imvc2014.org. www.e-mj.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Engineering & Mining Journal - JUN 2013