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REGIONAL NEWS - LATIN AMERICA 16 E&MJ; • OCTOBER 2017 www.e-mj.com precedent and restored MSR's license to operate the Escobal mine," said Ron Clayton, president and CEO, Tahoe Re- sources. "We respect the rights of in- digenous people in all jurisdictions in which we operate and are always willing to engage with any community members in those jurisdictions. We remain focused on peacefully resolving the blockade at Casillas. While we support the rights of all peoples to peacefully protest, we do not support the illegal blockage of public highway by non-locals, which has had a devastating economic impact on our em- ployees, contractors and communities." Alamos Pours First Gold at La Yaqui Alamos Gold reported in early September that construction of the first phase of its La Yaqui mine in Sonora, Mexico, was sub- stantially complete, on budget and ahead of schedule, and that the project had poured its first gold. The first pour totaled 410 ounces (oz). Gold production rates are increasing with the stacking of the first lift of ore on the leach pad completed and placed under irrigation in August. La Yaqui is located 7 kilometers (km) from Alamos' Mulatos mine and is being operated as a stand-alone heap-leach op- eration. The mine is expected to produce approximately 25,000 oz per year (oz/y) of gold at substantially lower costs than the main Mulatos pit complex given its higher grades and recoveries. Planning by Alamos calls for La Yaqui to evolve into a larger operation over the coming years with the development of the La Yaqui Grande project. La Yaqui Grande was a new discovery in 2015, and through ongoing exploration success, the project has grown to include mineral re- serves of 521,000 oz of gold in 11.5 mil- lion metric tons (mt) grading 1.4 grams per mt, approximately six times the size of La Yaqui phase one. "The first phase of La Yaqui mine was brought into production in eight months, a significant achievement and indicative of how quickly we can develop these types of deposits," said Alamos President and CEO John A. McCluskey. "Alamos will apply this same approach as we look to grow and develop La Yaqui Grande and other targets within the Mulatos district." The Mulatos mine is forecast to pro- duce in the range of 150,000 oz to 160,000 oz of gold in 2017 at mine-site all-in sustaining costs of $890/oz. Proven and probable reserves total approximately 50 million mt grading 1.17 g/mt of gold for 1.9 million oz of contained gold. Brio Gold Preparing to Restart Operations at Santa Luz Mine Brio Gold has announced positive results from a feasibility study of its plans to re- start operations at its Santa Luz mine in Bahia state, Brazil. Santa Luz is a fully constructed open-pit operation that was placed on care and maintenance in 2014 and is currently in development for re- commissioning in the second quarter of 2018. Plant throughput capacity is planned at 2.7 million metric tons per year (mt/y). At average overall recoveries of 84%, Santa Luz is expected to produce approximately 100,000 ounces per year (oz/y) of gold over a mine life of 10 years. Production during the first full year of production is estimated at about 150,000 oz. Total gold produced is expected to be 1.06 million oz. Santa Luz processing will be based on a whole ore leach flowsheet that allows for processing of both non-carbonaceous and carbonaceous minerals. The process incor- porates adding kerosene to the ground ore ahead of the leaching circuit to render inert naturally occurring preg-robbing carbon. The gold mineral is leached in cyanide and adsorbed in a standard resin-in-leach (RIL) circuit. Brio has been running a pilot plant since a 2016 prefeasibility study, testing all ore types in the RIL cir- cuit. The results have been consistent, and confirm overall average recoveries of 84%. Notably, the recoveries are consis- tent for all ore types — high or low carbo- naceous ore, dacitic ore, and blended ore. Total capital costs for the recommis- sioning of Santa Luz are estimated at $82.3 million. This estimate includes the costs for planned plant modifications, con- tingency, and all social and owner's costs. Capital expenditures are expected to be spent about equally between 2017 and 2018. The costs in 2017 are planned to be more heavily weighted in the fourth quarter. Average life-of-mine cash costs and all-in sustaining costs are estimated at $695/oz and $808/oz, respectively. Proven and probable open-pit mineral reserves at Santa Luz stand at 28 million mt at a grade of 1.39 oz/mt and contain- ing 1.259 million oz of gold. Fluor JV Granted Contract for BHP Spence Growth Project in Chile On Monday, September 25, Fluor Corp. announced that its joint venture team was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for BHP's Spence Growth Option project at the Spence open- cut copper mine in northern Chile. The 50/50 joint venture with SalfaCorp is re- sponsible for the delivery of the 95,000-ton- per-day copper concentrator and associated works. Fluor will book its share of the value in the third quarter of 2017. "Our team has worked closely with BHP since the project's initial phases to align on the project's goals and structure with an ex- ecution approach that will allow us to safely deliver this important project," said Tony Morgan, president of Fluor's Mining and Metals business. "Fluor's resume includes some of the world's most significant copper projects. This experience, combined with our integrated solutions approach, brings cost and execution certainty to the project." Back in August, BHP approved the capital expenditure of US$2.46 billion for the Spence Growth Option, which will ex- tend the mine life by more than 50 years. Brio's Santa Luz plant in Brazil has a 2.7-million-mt/y processing capacity.