Goldcorp’s $1.6 billion Peñasquito project in Mexico is 80% complete, CEO Chuck Jeannes said during the company’s annual shareholder meeting. “The crusher is operating and the next stage will be the grinding mill,” Jeannes said at the meeting. Mineweb reports that the Peñasquito project (IM September 2008, Operation Focus) is expected to begin commercial production early next year. It remains on track for mid-year mechanical completion of the sulphide mill and production of initial concentrates in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Mineweb said that Jeannes reaffirmed the company’s production expectations of 2.3 Moz this year, rising to 3.5 Moz by 2013 at the company’s meeting. He said those forecasts did not factor in potential output from the Cochenour mine, which Goldcorp acquired when it bought Gold Eagle Mines last year. Cochenour, which lies close to the company’s flagship Red Lake mine in northwestern Ontario, could begin to produce in 2011 or 2012, Jeannes said. The richer Bruce Channel deposit, which lies below Cochenour, could begin to yield gold in 2014.
Peñasquito is a 100% owned development project that will be Mexico’s largest open-pit mine. The project consists of two open pits – Peñasco and Chile Colorado. The mine is in development, with the current feasibility study envisaging an ancillary heap leach operation which started in the second quarter of 2008, followed by a 50,000 t/d milling operations starting in 2009, ramping up to 130,000 t/d in 2010. Annual production over the life of mine (estimated at 19 years) is expected to average around 500,000 oz of gold, 31 Moz of silver and over 400 MIb of zinc.
In December 2008, new reserves were calculated with the deposit now containing 17.4 Moz of Proven and Probable gold reserves, 4.6 Moz of Measured and Indicated gold resources and 5.3 Moz of Inferred gold resources. In addition, Peñasquito contains 1,045.7 Moz of Proven and Probable silver reserves, 369.7 Moz of Measured and Indicated silver resources and 395.1 Moz of Inferred silver resources. Significant quantities of zinc and lead will also add to the reserve base.
CiDRA Minerals Processing, the technology service provider, has recently been awarded, through M3 Engineering & Technology, a contract to supply SONARtrac® process monitoring systems to the project. It will cover some 39,000 ha, located 27 km west of Concepción del Oro district and the north-eastern portion of Zacatecas State. The SONARtrac systems will provide volumetric flow measurements on critical slurry lines.