Name of the Project
Mara (previously Agua Rica) copper/gold project.

Location
Catamarca province, in Argentina.

Project Owner/s
Yamana Gold.

The Mara  project will be developed using infrastructure and facilities of a joint venture (JV) that Yamana has with Glencore and Newmont Goldcorp, in Argentina.

Yamana, as the sole owner of Agua Rica, and the partners of Alumbrera have created a new JV, pursuant to which Yamana holds a controlling interest of 56.25%, Glencore International AG a 25% interest and Newmont Corp. an 18.75% interest.

Yamana will be the operator of the JV and will continue to lead the engagement with local, provincial and national stakeholders; the completion of the feasibility study and environmental-impact assessment; and the project to development and operation. A technical committee has been formed and comprises representatives of the three companies to oversee these efforts.

Project Description
Yamama Gold has completed the integration of the Agua Rica project with the Minera Alumbrera plant and infrastructure, now known as Mara, turning a greenfield project into a lower-risk brownfield project.

The integration creates synergies by combining existing infrastructure, which was formerly used to process ore from the Alumbrera mine during its mine life, including processing facilities, a fully permitted tailings storage facility, a pipeline, logistical installations, ancillary buildings and other infrastructure, with the future openpit Agua Rica mine.

Yamana has said that modest modifications will be implemented at the existing processing circuit to process Agua Rica ore to produce copper and by-products concentrate, which will be transported to port for commercialisation. The distance between the mine and plant is about 36 km and ore will be transported to the plant by overland conveyor.

Agua Rica hosts a large-scale, long-life copper mineral resource with associated gold, silver and molybdenum, while the Alumbrera infrastructure is of significant scale and configuration that is ideally suited to the integration plan. 

Preliminary studies show the potential for a mine life of more than 25 years at average production of about 236 000 t/y of copper-equivalent metal, including the contributions of gold, molybdenum and silver, for the first ten years of operation. This is based on the Agua Rica mineral reserve estimated to contain proven and probable mineral reserves of about 4.5-million tonnes of copper and 6.5-million ounces of gold contained in about 910-million tonnes of ore.    

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
According to the Agua Rica PFS, the project has an estimated net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.94-billion and an after-tax internal rate of return of 19.7%.

Capital Expenditure
The PFS estimates a capital cost of $2.4-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Work on a feasibility study for the Mara project is continuing.

Yamana has reported that it has received several proposals for its interest in Mara, but that, after consideration, the board has determined that any strategic initiatives will be considered closer to the completion of the feasibility study and application for permitting later this year.

The full feasibility study results and completion of the environmental- and social-impact assessment are expected in 2022.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Yamana Gold, tel +1416815 0220 or email investor@yamana.com.