Guatemala’s Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources has approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for
Construction of the “zero discharge” facility is slated to begin this fall, with production to follow in the spring of 2006.
“This is great news for Aurogin,” says Aurogin CEO John Paterson. “It removes any uncertainty about timing of the project development and clears the way to enter into a financing arrangement.”
Aurogin is currently in talks with several parties aimed at arranging a combination of debt and equity financing for the project.
At last count, El Sastre hosted indicated resources totalling 370,000 tonnes grading 4.1 grams gold per tonne, for 49,251 contained ounces. Another 1.2 million tonnes of inferred material averages 3.1 grams gold, for 117,265 contained ounces. The estimates employ a cutoff grade of 1 gram gold.
The near-surface resource is contained in a 300-by-500-metre area, and is based on results from 38 percussion drill holes, 8 reverse- circulation holes, and more than 1,000 trench, pit, channel and chip samples.
Production from the open-pit, heap-leach operation is expected to ramp up from an initial 20,000 oz. per year to 40,000 oz. annually as more resources are defined.
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