Tag Archives: Lamaque

Eldorado Gold weighing BEVs, vertical haulage tech for Lamaque expansion

2nd October 2019Bulk handling, Mine operation news, Mine shafts and equipment, Mining equipment, Mining project news, Power supply for mines, Precious metals, Sustainable miningbattery-electric vehicles, Borden, Conveyors, Efemçukuru, Eldorado Gold, gold, Goldex, Lamaque, Newmont Goldcorp, Olympias, Paul Skayman, Quebec, Rail-VeyorDaniel Gleeson

With production at the Lamaque gold mine, in Quebec, Canada, now in full swing, Eldorado Gold is looking at a potential expansion underground that could involve the use of battery-electric vehicles, or vertical haulage with conveyors, according to Chief Operating Officer Paul Skayman.

Speaking to IM last week, Skayman said the company, following the declaration of commercial production at Lamaque earlier this year, was in the process of working on a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) to expand Lamaque. This study will evaluate increasing throughput from an average of some 1,800 t/d to 2,500 tpd, with a resultant boost in annual average production to 170,000 oz, from close to 130,000 oz.

The expansion PEA is expected to be completed by the end of year and, subject to the results, a prefeasibility study on the expansion will begin, due for completion in the second half of 2020.

While the expansion is over a year away, Skayman said the deepening of the mine could see the company look at the potential for either battery-powered haulage or vertical haulage with conveyors. This would see the mine install a decline to access the orebody, as opposed to sinking a shaft.

Skayman said the provincial government offered incentives to employ such technologies at mine, while power was relatively inexpensive, “so, we are in the right place to be looking at this”. Indeed, Agnico Eagle Mines has employed a Rail-Veyor system at its Goldex mine in Quebec, while MacLean Engineering has delivered at least one battery-powered unit to an underground gold operation in the province.

Eldorado is not currently running any battery-powered units, instead, waiting for the technology to mature to a point where machines can run for a whole shift and the charging infrastructure has been proven, according to Skayman. He said the company was watching projects such as the recently opened Borden mine in Ontario to see where miners were pushing the “technology envelope” in the electrification arena.

Eldorado has other underground operations across the globe, but Skayman said Lamaque was the prime candidate for the use of battery-powered equipment.

“[This technology] is probably more likely to be used at Lamaque than our operations in Europe; Lamaque is a vertical stacked set of lenses and the deeper sections we know of go down to 1,500 m,” he said. “We’re nowhere near that in Turkey at Efemçukuru, which is relatively mature. We eventually get down to deeper sections at Olympias, but nothing like the depth at Lamaque.”

Eldorado connects the Triangle and Sigma dots at Lamaque gold mine

1st April 2019Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Precious metalsCanada, Eldorado Gold, gold, Lamaque, Paul Skayman, Quebec, Sigma, TriangleDaniel Gleeson

Eldorado Gold says it has achieved commercial production at its wholly-owned Lamaque mine in Quebec, Canada.

Lamaque produces ore from the Triangle deposit, which is then processed at the refurbished Sigma mill.

With an initial mine life of around seven years, Lamaque is planning to mine and process over 500,000 t of ore at an average grade of 7 g/t Au this year, with production expected to amount to 100,000-110,000 oz of gold (including pre-commercial production) at cash operating costs of $550-600/oz of gold sold. Output is then expected to increase to 125,000-135,000 oz of gold in 2020 and 2021.

In 2018, inferred resources at Lamaque were increased by over 50%, and further drilling is currently ongoing to increase both the reserves and resources, Eldorado said. With over 37,000 m of exploration drilling budgeted for 2019 and excess capacity at the Sigma mill, the company said it is well positioned and focused on optimising the potential of the Lamaque mine.

Eldorado’s Chief Operating Officer, Paul Skayman, said: “We are proud to announce the achievement of this important milestone just over 18 months after acquiring this asset. It is a testament to all of the hard work that has gone into the exploration, prefeasibility study, engineering and construction that we have safely delivered commercial production ahead of schedule.”

Lamaque consists of the newly-discovered Triangle gold deposit, only 2.5km south of the historical Lamaque and Sigma mines, which are also on the property and produced over 10 Moz of gold.

Eldorado Gold to continue heap leaching operations at Kisladag

1st February 2019Metallurgy, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Precious metalsCanada, Eldorado Gold, George Burns, gold, heap leaching, Kisladag, Lamaque, Quebec, TurkeyDaniel Gleeson

Eldorado Gold has decided to resume mining, crushing, stacking and heap leaching at its Kisladag gold mine, in Turkey, and suspended plans to build a $500 million processing plant.

The decision comes following the receipt of metallurgical test work on material placed on the heap leach pad last year.

Not only will this move defer a significant amount of capital expenditure for the company, it is also expected to help production rise to 390,000-420,000 oz in 2019, compared with 349,147 oz in 2018, a year when Eldorado suspended mining operations at Kisladag due to lower than expected gold recoveries.

Eldorado’s President and CEO, George Burns, said: “The decision to restart mining and heap leaching at Kisladag is supported by improved heap leach recoveries and confirmed by a revised heap leaching plan developed in early 2019. The revised heap leaching plan results in favourable economics when compared to milling, without the risks associated with the construction and financing of a $500 million project.”

On October 23, 2017, the company provided an update on Kisladag operations based on laboratory testwork undertaken during the September quarter of that year, which indicated that lower recoveries were expected from the zone of mineralisation located around the base of the open pit where mining was underway.

Based on available information, in the March quarter 2018, Eldorado elected to suspend mining in order to evaluate processing options. Following a year of engineering and testwork, in October 2018 the company announced that the Board of Directors had approved the advancement of a mill project. Subsequent to that announcement, gold recovery from the leach pad increasingly exceeded expectations. The company then focused testwork and analysis on the viability of resuming mining and heap leaching at Kisladag.

In parallel to mill engineering and analysis, testwork to extract maximum value from material already placed on the heap leach pad and the remaining reserves was ongoing throughout 2018.

Approximately 900,000 t of ore was placed on an inter-lift lined test pad in the March quarter of 2018. Late in the year, results from this pad were showing recoveries of approximately 58% from an extended leach cycle approaching 250 days (compared with around 40% recoveries from the original 90-day column tests).

In early 2019, the company analysed the new data and developed revised heap leaching plans, showing improved economics for the heap leaching scenario, hence the recent decision.

Eldorado said mining was expected to recommence by the end of this quarter, with the three-year guidance of 145,000-165,000 oz (2019), 240,000-260,000 oz (2020) and 75,000-95,000 oz (2021) based on mining and stacking an initial 22 Mt of ore grading over 1.1 g/t over this period, as well as continuing to leach the material currently on the pad.

This would help overall group production go to 390,000-420,000 oz in 2019, 520,000-550,000 oz in 2020 and 350,000-380,000 oz in 2021.

Eldorado said on Kisladag: “While the mill project has been suspended, the project remains viable in the short-term. The viability of the mill project will continue to be assessed in light of the results from ongoing heap leach metallurgical testwork on deeper material and in view of other investment opportunities within the portfolio,” the company said.

The other piece of exciting news within the company’s results was developments at its Lamaque mine in Quebec, Canada.

The company poured first gold from the Sigma mill at Lamaque in December and, in the March quarter, the mine is expected to declare commercial production. This should set the operation up to produce 100,000-110,000 oz of gold in 2019 from the mining and processing of over 500,000 t of ore at an average grade of 7 g/t Au.

Burns said: “At Lamaque, we are very pleased with the performance of our project team who delivered the first gold pour from the Sigma mill in less than 18 months since acquisition.”

In addition, exploration success at Lamaque – which includes significant resource conversion in the C5 orebody, in particular – has led the company to review options to increase throughput at the Sigma mill.

Eldorado said: “The mill has a refurbished nameplate capacity of 2,200 t/d and the potential to expand to its former capacity of 5,000 t/d with a purchase and installation of a SAG mill. Based on planned drilling and the potential conversion of inferred resources in C4, C5 and C6, the company expects to explore options to increase mill feed.”

The Lamaque underground mine is currently expected to produce 125,000-135,000 oz of gold in both 2020 and 2021.