Gold miner Kinross recently achieved its first ore load through the primary crusher at the La Coipa mine in Chile, which the team achieved on February 1. This significant milestone was the first step toward the reopening of the La Coipa operation. In its development projects update on February 16, Kinross said the La Coipa Restart project in Chile continued to make excellent progress, with commissioning of the plant commencing in February 2022, on schedule and on budget.
The project is currently using lower grade stockpile ore for commissioning, with the plant expected to ramp up over the first half of the year to reach full operating capacity mid-year. Plant refurbishments of critical components are essentially complete, with other ongoing refurbishments planned during the ramp up period. The construction of the mine road has been completed.
Kinross has increased La Coipa’s expected life of mine production by 45% to approximately 1 million gold equivalent ounces, compared with the previous estimate of 690,000 Au eq oz by incorporating the nearby Puren pit into the project and optimising the Phase 7 mine plan. The increase in production has extended La Coipa’s estimated mine life to early 2026 from 2024. With the positive changes to the mine plan, some ounces expected in 2023 are planned to be deferred into later years due to blending of lower grade Puren ore with Phase 7 ore. Pre-stripping at the main Phase 7 pit continues on schedule, with pre-stripping at Puren expected to start in early Q2 2022.
The company added that it continues to study other opportunities to further expand La Coipa’s mine plan, including an additional Puren pushback and incorporating other adjacent pits into the project. Kinross has also recently signed a power purchase agreement to supply La Coipa with 100% renewable power to meet its power needs, in line with the company’s GHG reduction strategy.
As a result of mine plan optimisations, the company has also added to La Coipa’s gold and silver mineral reserve estimates. Kinross also added to the project’s gold and silver mineral resource estimates, mainly due to the change in the company’s silver price assumption for mineral resources from $20 per ounce to $22 per ounce. In summary it added 27,000 Au oz to proven and probable reserves and 251,000 Au oz to measured and indicated resources. It also added 857,000 Ag oz to proven and probable mineral reserves and 6.588 Moz Au to measured and indicated resources.
