Vancouver – Goldcorp (G-T, GG-N) has included the adjacent Bermejal deposit into the recently revised feasibility study on its Los Filos gold deposit in southern Mexico.
Although the initial Los Filos feasibility was completed in mid-2005, acquisition of Bermejal prompted the company to incorporate the neighbouring deposit into its mining plan.
With project construction well underway and scheduled for completion by 2006 yearend, the integrated mine plan foresees production commencing in 2007 with output of about 200,000 oz. of gold, rising to about 350,000 oz. annually in 2008.
The deposits will be mined from twin open pit-heap leach operations. Ore from the higher grade portion of Los Filos will be crushed and agglomerated prior to being stacked on the leach pad, while lower grade ore from Los Filos and El Bermejal will be placed directly on the pads. Metallurgical testing estimates average gold recoveries of 72% and 59% from the crushed leach ore and directly leached ore respectively.
The deposits host proven and probable reserves of 203 million tonnes grading 0.7 gram gold per tonne, or about 4.5 million oz. of contained gold. An additional measured and indicated resource of 16.2 million tonnes of 0.7 gram gold has also been reviewed.
The mine has a projected strip ratio of 1.5-to-1 and an estimated nine-year lifespan, and will produce a total of about 2.8 million oz. of gold. Capital costs are pegged at US$187 million, with US$45 million of preproduction capital, and cash operating costs are expected to come in at about US$250 per oz.
Goldcorp exploration drilling has also identified peripheral skarn mineralization, around the existing deposits. A further focus will be to delineate and develop these potential higher-grade ore zones that could be processed through a parallel, conventional milling circuit.
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