Name of the Project
Amulsar gold project.

Location
Southern Armenia.

Client
Lydian International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Geoteam CJSC.

Project Description
Studies on the Amulsar project have demonstrated a compelling opportunity for the development of a large-scale, low-cost operation using openpit mining and conventional heap-leach processing.

The project comprises Site 27 – the preferred location for the barren rock storage facility, and Site 28 – the preferred location for the heap-leach facility.

The deposit will be developed by openpit mining using a 10 m bench height, 22 m² front shovels and 180 t haul trucks with a capacity to carry 190 t of material.

A production rate of 30 000 t/d over 350 days a year has been the basis for planning. The estimated mine life is less than ten year;, however, the model contains a significant portion of inferred material, and drilling has identified additional mineralisation below the pits that has not been quantified by detailed drilling. Over the first five years of production, lower-grade material above the cutoff grade (greater or equal to 0.24 g/t gold and below 0.30 g/t gold) will be stockpiled.

The processing facility will comprise two‐stage crushing, screening and overland conveying to the fine-ore stockpile and truck loadout bin. From there, the 19 mm crushed ore will be transported by trucks to the leach pad for heap leaching.

Pregnant leach solution from the heap will be treated in a carbon‐in‐column circuit. Gold will be recovered by an adsorption‐desorption‐recovery (ADR) circuit where the final product will be doré.

Jobs To be Created
Employment is expected to top 1 300 workers later this year.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value at an 5% discount rate, of $386.2-million and an internal rate of return of 24.5% at a gold price of $1 150/oz,  with a payback of 2.6 years.

Value
Total preproduction capital costs have been estimated at $369.88-million.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Construction of the Amulsar project is advancing fast, with 58% of the $369.9-million project capital committed as of May 31.

Priority will now shift to advancing site earthworks.

Work has been completed on primary site-access roads, the ADR plant platform, the construction warehouse platform and the heap-leach facility temporary sediment dam. Earthworks and construction activities have started on the platform for the crushing and screening plant and in other areas at higher elevations.

Construction power and water are in place, access roads are complete, the construction warehouse has been erected and detailed design and fabrication of the electrical distribution equipment is in process, the company has reported.

As the hot summer months approach, personnel will be accommodated in a local 250-bed hotel used for initial worker accommodations and which has been renovated, while the 680-bed permanent residence camp is expected to be completed and occupied in the second half of this year.

The design of the mine haul road is also now complete and the construction contract awarded.

Caterpillar is ahead of schedule in producing the primary mine mobile equipment, and initial deliveries are expected to start in late July. The mining fleet for Amulsar will include 19 Caterpillar 789D 180 t capacity haul trucks, one Caterpillar 994 front-end loader, and two Caterpillar 6040 hydraulic shovels. A training simulator has been bought to train equipment operators.

Further, the design and fabrication contracts for the crushing and screening plant and the overland conveyor system have been awarded. Fabrication of the equipment components is under way, and the first shipment of structural steel for the crushing plant has been delivered to site on schedule. Earthworks preparing the crushing and screening plant building platform are in progress.

Lydian has also completed design of the HLF and the contract for the earthworks has been awarded. The contractor has mobilised to site and has started topsoil stripping. The contract for supplying and installing the geomembrane liner for the HLF and associated process ponds has also been awarded.

Meanwhile, the contract for the design and supply of the ADR plant, and equipment construction has been awarded and is under way.

Further, the Amulsar project is advancing its application to secure pre-operational certification under the International Cyanide Management Code with positive assessments by an International Cyanide Management Institute- (ICMI-) listed third-party auditor and a commendation by the ICMI on Lydian’s commitment to the Cyanide Code and its pursuit of pre-operational certification.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Lydian International, tel +44 1534 747 890 or email moreinfo@lydianinternational.co.uk.