Wheaton River wins approval for Bellavista

Clearing its last major regulatory hurdle, Wheaton River Minerals (WRM-T) has received final environmental approval to build its Bellavista open-pit, heap-leach gold mine in Costa Rica.

Situated 20 km north of the Pacific port city of Puntarenas, the project centres on an epithermal gold-silver deposit with reserves of 11.2 million tonnes grading 1.54 grams gold per tonne.

The Bellavista mine will produce an average of 60,000 oz. gold per year over 7.3 years at a total cash operating cost, including royalties, of US$179 per oz. Construction costs are estimated at US$28 million.

Wheaton River wants to hedge a significant portion of production at a price of no less than US$350 per oz. Therefore, a spot price of about US$295 per oz. is required before construction can begin.

The company says the project received overwhelming support at a public hearing in the nearby community of Miramar in November 2000. Also, a recent poll found that only 5% of the local population opposes development.

While Wheaton has a 100% working interest in the property, Vancouver-based junior Canarc Resource (CCM-T) has an 18.3% carried interest and receives annual preproduction payments of US$117,000 from Wheaton.