Las Lagunas, Dominican Republic
The 100% owned Las Lagunas project involves the reprocessing of high grade gold/silver refractory tailings from the Pueblo Viejo mine located approximately 105km to the north of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean.
The tailings were derived from open pit operations at the mine between 1992 and 1999, and are impounded in a purpose-built valley-catchment dam. The mine is currently being redeveloped by Barrick Gold Corp at a cost in excess of US$3.0 billion.
The tailings were generated through the processing of refractory ores by Rosario Dominicana S.A, a State owned mining corporation. The refractory nature and metallurgical complexity of the ore resulted in poor recoveries (<30%) of gold and silver when treated by the conventional carbon in leach/cyanidation process plant then in place for oxide ore, resulting in significant tonnages of tailings with +3.5g/t gold being stored in the Las Lagunas dam.
PanTerra Gold's subsidiary, EnviroGold (Las Lagunas) Limited, won an international tender and signed a Contract with the Dominican State in 2004 giving it the right to reprocess the tailings under a profit sharing agreement with the Government.
The project involves the reclamation of the existing tailings, concentration of gold bearing sulphides through flotation, followed by sulphide oxidation using the Albion process, prior to extraction of gold and silver utilising standard carbon-in-leach cyanidation.
The project has a JORC Indicated Resource of 5.137mt of ore grading 3.8g/t gold and 38.6g/t silver. PanTerra Gold anticipates annual production of 65,000 oz Au and 600,000 oz Ag commencing in March/April 2012.
Extensive feasibility studies were carried out in 2005-7 which were followed by detailed engineering of an Albion/CIL plant which will process 800,000tpa of tailings per annum for 6.5 years. The Project is fully permitted and construction of the process plant is well advanced and due for completion in early 2012.
Since signing the agreement with the Dominican State, the Company has spent approximately US$72 million on the project, including acquisition costs, resource definition, metallurgical testwork, pilot plant studies, feasibility studies, engineering, siteworks, procurement of mechanical and electrical equipment, plant construction, project management and holding costs.
PanTerra Gold anticipates operating costs of US$312 per oz Au equivalent. Total development costs are expected to be in the order of US$82 million and are fully funded with US$36.5 million equity having been provided by PanTerra Gold, and US$45 million being provided by Macquarie Bank from Australia.
The Las Lagunas project is situated within a significant mineralised belt and the Company's Albion/CIL plant could provide treatment opportunities for refractory gold properties in the region. PanTerra Gold has an interest in a 8800 ha concession 10 km east of Barrick's 25 million oz refractory gold deposit at Pueblo Viejo, which may provide feed to the Las Lagunas plant in the future.
[Link to NI43-101 Technical Report]
Photos
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Photographs updated 2 February 2012
The information in this document that relates to Indicated Resources at the Las Lagunas project is based on information compiled by Rick Adams, BSc MAusIMM MAIG, Director Geological Resource Services for Cube Consulting, who is a consultant to PanTerra Gold Limited. Mr Adams is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Mr Adams consents to the inclusion in the document of the matters based on information in the form and context in which it appears.
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Located approximately 105km to the north of Santo Domingo
