A prefeasibility study of the Ho Gan gold deposit in central Vietnam has concluded that small-scale production could be profitable.
Consulting firm Micon International, hired by 80%-owner
Ho Gan is one deposit on the Bong Mieu property, about 80 km south of Da Nang. Olympus Pacific owns 80%, and two local companies, the remaining interest.
The operation has a low capital cost — only US$4.5 million — and is estimated to have an internal rate of return of 86%, assuming a gold price of US$400 per oz. The pits would produce just over 50,000 oz. gold over a mine life of 38 months.
Ho Gan has a measured and indicated resource of 1.1 million tonnes grading 2.2 grams gold per tonne, which Micon modelled as a proven and probable reserve of 858,000 tonnes at 2.4 grams per tonne. The pit designs show stripping ratios near 1.
The proposed plant — a ball mill feeding gravity and flotation circuits, with concentrates from both going to a cyanide leach reactor — is expected to have a recovery rate around 81%. Cash costs were estimated at US$188 per oz.; total costs, at US$210.
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