The wait is over, and Dundee Precious Metals (DPM-T) has finally secured an approval on its environmental impact assessment (EIA) for its Krumovgrad gold project in Bulgaria.
Local groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) put up stiff opposition to the project when the company released its first feasibility study, but the government recognized the project’s merits after it adjusted its processing plan.
“Since initially embarking on this project in 2005, we have made great efforts to develop a comprehensive plan for Krumovgrad that addresses the concerns of the community and will prove to be economically beneficial for Bulgaria and the local community, as well as [for] Dundee Precious Metals and its shareholders,” Jonathan Goodman, Dundee’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.
On Nov. 24 the news helped push the company’s shares up 5%, or 42¢, to $8.90 on 417,916 shares traded.
DPM says the environmental study addressed community concerns about water use, treatment systems, cyanide and a tailings dam.
The company plans to build a processing plant that uses conventional crushing, grinding and floatation processing for gold extraction instead of cyanide, with thickened tailings and mine rock waste going into an integrated mine waste facility instead of a tailings pond.
A new feasibility study considering these modifications is being finalized.
The original 2005 feasibility study envisioned an open-pit mine and mill earning 85% gold recoveries from 850,000 tonnes of ore per year, with an average 3.5-gram-gold head grade. The mine’s life was estimated at eight years with total gold production between 850,000 oz. and 900,000 oz. Capital costs were estimated between US$125 million and US$140 million.
On June 30, DPM had US$139 million in cash and short-term investments.
Krumovgrad hosts a low-sulphidation, epithermal gold-silver deposit with measured and indicated resources of 5.22 million tonnes grading 5 grams gold and 3 grams silver, for 835,000 oz. gold and 440,000 oz. silver.
The future mine is considered a key piece in the company’s plan to reach 250,000 oz. gold production by 2014.
DPM’s key mining assets also include the Chelopech gold-copper-silver mine in Bulgaria, the Kapan gold-copper-zinc-silver mine in Southern Armenia and the Tsumeb concentrate processing facility located in Namibia.
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