Engineering & Mining Journal

JUL 2014

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

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26 E&MJ; • JULY 2014 www.e-mj.com NEWS-CONTINUED NEWS-CALENDAR OF EVENTS JULY 22–24, 2014: Queensland Mining & Engineering Exhibition 2014, Mackay Showground, Mackay, Queensland, Australia. Contact: Tel: 1 201-251-2600; Fax: 1 201 251 2760; Web: www.queensland- miningexpo.com.au. JULY 29–31, 2014: 33 rd International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, Lakeview Resort and Conference Center, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Contact: Web: http://icgcm.conferenceacademy.com/ custom/icgcm/Home.aspx. AUGUST 2–8, 2014: 10 th 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. SEPTEMBER 16–18, 2014: China International Mining Expo 2014 at the New China International Exhibition Center, Beijing. Contact: Web: www.bjminexpo.com/. SEPTEMBER 17–19, 2014: Colombian Mining & Energy Conference, Irotama Hotel, Santa Marta, Colombia. Contact: Web: www.alame.org. SEPTEMBER 23–25, 2014: IMEX 2014, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Contact: Tim Fearney, show director. Tel: +1 678-822-9804; Email: tfearney@mining-media.com; Web: www.imex2014.com. SEPTEMBER 28–OCTOBER 1, 2014: Solution Mining Research Institute Fall Technical Conference with optional technical class on "Salt- cavern-induced Subsidence & Sinkholes," Groningen, The Netherlands. Contact: John Voigt; Tel: 1 570 585 8092; Email: smri@solutionmining.org; Web: www.solutionmining.org. OCTOBER 1–4, 2014: 46 th International October Conference on Mining and Metallurgy, Hotel Jezero at Bor Lake, Bor, Serbia. Contact: Web: www.ioc.tf.bor.ac.rs. OCTOBER 12–16, 2014: 32 nd International Conference and Exhibition in the Zhengzhou Research Institute of CHALCO (China). Contact: Sudipta (Dipa) Chaudhuri; Tel: 91 982 328 98 17; Email: icsoba@icsoba.info; Web: www.icsoba.info. OCTOBER 20–23, 2014: The 16 th China Mining Conference and Exhibition, Tianjin Meijiang Convention Center, Tianjin, China. Contact: Web: http://en.chinamining-expo.org. OCTOBER 21–22, 2014: SafeCon, International Conference on Safety Aspects of Conveyor Systems, Location TBA. Contact: Tel: +27 11 888- 7163; Local fax to email: 086 503-4524; Email: ctr@cmasa.co.za; Web: www.cmasa.co.za. OCTOBER 29–31, 2014: M&E; Indonesia 2014, Jakarta International Expo. Contact: Tel: +1 201-251-2600; Fax: +1 201 251 2760; Web: www.miningandengineeringindo.com. supplier for the mill and processing plant, had representatives on site supporting the commissioning process. Underground development was ongoing, with more than 4,500 m completed on ramp- ing, ventilation and ore development on five levels. Approximately 53,000 mt of develop- ment ore had been mined, with 41,500 mt delivered to the leach pad and 11,500 mt grading 1.17 g/mt gold and 98 g/mt silver in the stockpile awaiting mill processing. All underground production equipment purchased by SilverCrest (one long-hole drill and three LHDs) was on site. Stope production was scheduled to begin at the 575 level in July. SilverCrest personnel will carry out all underground production min- ing from stopes, while a contractor will continue to do all development work. Underground close-spaced definition drilling was in progress to better define reserves for initial and longer-term stope production. Santa Elena's diluted, recover- able, probable underground reserves cur- rently stand at 3.9 million mt, grading 108.1 g/mt silver and 1.57 g/mt gold and containing 13.6 million oz of silver and 198,170 oz of gold. An additional 3.6 mil- lion mt of indicated and inferred resources contain an estimated 15.4 million oz of sil- ver and 188,000 oz of gold. SilverCrest was forecasting Santa Elena's 2014 production at 3.3 million to 3.6 million silver equivalent oz. It will review its market production guidance for possible changes once mill commissioning is complete and underground production is fully under way. Minera IRL Targets 100,000 oz/y of Gold from Ollachea Project Minera IRL has announced the results of post-definitive feasibility study (DFS) mine optimization studies of its Ollachea under- ground gold project in southern Peru. Highlights include 100,000 oz/y of aver- age gold production over an initial nine- year mine life. Life-of-mine gold produc- tion is estimated at 930,000 oz. Assuming financing and necessary per- mits are in place, Minera IRL anticipates that construction at Ollachea will begin in the third quarter of 2014, with production starting in the second quarter of 2016. Initial capital cost to develop the Ollachea project is estimated at $164.7 million. Average total cash cost of produc- tion is estimated at $587/oz. Minera IRL Executive Chairman Courtney Chamberlain said, "The impact of the better defined geological model at Ollachea has exceeded our expectations. The resulting optimized underground mine design and production schedule carried out by international consultancy, Mining Plus, has allowed us to bring forward con- siderable gold production. This, along with $9.5 million of deferred capital, has enhanced the project's financial projec- tions. The company is confident it will soon receive the construction permit and con- tinues its focus on the debt restructuring and project financing." Ollachea project costs are still based on 2012 DFS capital-cost estimates. How- ever, the company believes that potential cost reductions for equipment and services are likely to offset potential cost increases. Additionally, discussions with equipment suppliers have confirmed certain opportu- nities to lease finance a substantial portion of the mining equipment. Probable mineral reserves at Ollachea are now estimated at 9.2 million mt grad- ing 3.4 g/mt gold at a 2.1-g/mt cut-off, for just more than 1 million contained oz. The reserves are all located in the project's Minapampa zone. The updated estimate is based on a significantly smaller mining- panel size and more constrained search ellipsoids. Minera IRL anticipates that more work could lead to an expanded mineral re- serve and increased mine life at Ollachea. The Concurayoc zone to the west of Mina- pampa contains an inferred resource of 900,000 oz, and, additionally, positive re- sults were obtained from 2013 underground exploration drilling along the eastern strike extent of Minapampa. Finally, the Ollachea mineralized zone remains open-ended and undrilled along strike and at depth. (Regional News-Latin America - from p. 14) EMJ_pg04-27_EMJ_pg04-27 7/2/14 1:50 PM Page 26

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