JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Perth-based gold developer Crusader Resources has started preliminary discussions with potential financing partners for a new gold mine in Brazil, where an initial resource of 178 800 oz of gold has been defined.

Crusader executive director Paul Stephens, who was attending the final day of the Paydirt 2016 Latin America Downunder conference in Perth, said the focus would be on a debt facility to construct and commission the company’s wholly-owned proposed Juruena gold mine.

“The scope of any final firm financing agreement is likely to be linked to the completion of the current scoping study into Juruena and a new resource statement expected by mid-year,” Stephens said.

“The weakening Brazilian currency is also having a current positive effect on the economics of gold production in this Latin American jurisdiction.

“It is prudent in this environment to fast-track Juruena to take advantage of this favourable commodity environment.”

Juruena has a maiden Joint Ore Reserve Committee-compliant resource estimate over two separate prospects of 459 800 t at 12.1 g/t of gold for a contained resource of 178 800 oz of gold.

The project is located in central Brazil’s rich Alta Floresta gold belt, which from 1979 over the next 18 years produced more than seven-million ounces of gold from 40 documented discoveries.

Crusader controls 100% of two key areas along the belt which have been responsible for producing more than 500 000 oz of gold to date.

Stephens said only two of an initial 16 targets at Juruena had been tested to date.

“The Juruena gold soil anomaly for a start is a giant, stretching more than 8 km in length and 4 km in width – a size and style similar to the Boddington gold project in Western Australia,” he said.

Crusader is mounting a 2016 drill campaign of around 6 000 m with the aim of converting current inferred resources at the Querosene and Dona Maria prospects into the indicated category.