PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Metminco has received approval from the Colombian environmental agency in the Department of Risaralda to conduct underground development at its Miraflores gold project.
The development approval will allow the company to expose the previously defined orezones on multiple levels, up to 2 000 m, and to complete infill diamond drilling for stope definition ahead of a final decision to construct the processing facilities and infrastructure.
The development will include access to the underground area via a decline, development of a ventilation system for the mine, cross cutting and on-reef driving on multiple levels.
Metminco told shareholders on Thursday that the company would also assess the possibility of trucking ore from the mine to a processing facility nearby to gain large scale bulk processing information ahead of a decision to construct the processing facilities at Miraflores.
The project currently has a measured and indicated resource of 9.27-million tonnes, grading 2.82 g/t gold and 2.77 g/t silver, and an inferred mineral resource of 500 000 t, grading 2.36 g/t gold and 3.64 g/t silver.
A feasibility study on Miraflores is due by the third quarter of this year, with Metminco hoping to produce around 50 000 oz/y from the project, over an initial mine life of nine years.