VANCOUVER
A bankable feasibility study concludes that the Soledad Mountain project in Mojave, Calif., can be financed at current gold and silver prices.
The study, conducted for Golden Queen Mining (GQM-T), calls for annual production of 3.6 million tonnes by open-pit and heap-leach methods. Capital costs, through startup, are pegged at US$51 million, and cash costs, before royalties, are pegged at US$188 per oz. gold.
Gold and silver production is projected at 84,615 oz. and 1.3 million oz., respectively, over a 6.5-year mine life.
Minable reserves stand at 24.8 million tonnes grading 0.84 gram gold and 14.69 grams silver per tonne, with a stripping ratio of 2.49-to-1.
Golden Queen projects metallurgical recoveries of 82% for gold and 71% for silver.
Construction will begin in the third quarter of 1997, with startup set for the second quarter of 1998.
A 25,000-metre drill program, now under way, is testing the downdip extensions of known reserves and exploring strike extensions on surface, including a new stockwork west of the planned pit.
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