Toronto-based Greenstone Resources (TSE) says its share of gold production will jump to about 82,000 oz. per year by 1994 if it purchases the Libertad gold mine in Nicaragua.
As part of Nicaragua’s recent privatization program, Greenstone and Nica Mines, a private company, have been awarded the right to acquire a 75% interest in the deposit. The remaining 25% stake would be retained by a Nicaraguan company representing mine workers.
Open pit reserves at Libertad stand at 9.73 million tons grading 0.12 oz. gold per ton. As equal partners, Greenstone and Nica plan to build a 2,000-ton-per-day heap leach operation to produce about 60,000 oz. annually at a cash operating cost of US$137. Greenstone would be operator. The Libertad concession, 75 miles east of the capital of Managua, is accessible by road. The site has electrical power and other infrastructure as well as a 150-ton-per-day flotation-cyanide mill that could be expanded to process higher-grade ore.
Nica’s largest shareholder is the president of Nicaragua’s biggest private bank, Banco Mercantil. The Inter-American Development Bank, a significant minority shareholder in Banco Mercantil, will act as financial adviser to the Libertad joint venture and arrange project financing.
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