Terra plans leach test on Las Minitas gold bet

A 5,000-ton heap leach test is scheduled for Terra Mines’ Las Minitas Mexico gold project later this summer, says Robert Evans, president, in an interim report. He expects that feasibility work will be completed by the company’s Mexican partner during the test period.

At a production rate of 5,000 tons per day, the company’s share of gold output would be around 28,000 oz per year, he notes. There are currently five million tons of proven reserves in the Las Minitas zone and “significant additional tonnage is anticipated,” he states. Based on recovery rates of 75% and an average grade of 0.052 oz, operating costs would be approximately $150 per oz.

Surface geological work has commenced on the La Sobia zone which he claims has even greater potential than Las Minitas. The objective of the program is to establish proven reserves, grades and recovery rates.

The company is shutting down its Bullmoose gold mine in the Northwest Territories. The mill has been processing stockpiled ore which was scheduled for depletion by the end of June. Reclamation work and preparation of equipment and facilities for removal from the property via the 1987 winter ice road will be completed by fall, he predicts.

All remaining mining personnel will be contracted out to Lightning Minerals which is extracting a 5,000-ton bulk sample from its claims in the area. This sample was to be processed at Bullmoose but it will now be milled in Yellowknife during the winter months.

At the annual meeting a few months ago, former president W. (Bill) Kocken solicited proxies against management and the existing board. Mr Evans notes the solicitation wasn’t successful and indeed was “opposed by shareholders on a ratio of three to one.”