Privately held Boroo is the new owner of the Lagunas Norte mine and CEO Dulguun Erdenebaatar says the company is “thrilled” to be on the Peruvian mining scene.

Boroo on Tuesday closed the acquisition of Lagunas Norte from Canada’s Barrick Gold – its second acquisition of an asset placed in care and maintenance from global senior and midtier miners since its establishment three years ago.

“The completion of this transformative acquisition positions Boroo to realise its strategic goal to become a global midtier precious metal producer within the next three years,” said Erdenebaatar.

In 2018, the company, then known as OZD ASIA, bought Centerra Gold’s Mongolian business unit, including the Boroo gold mine and the Gatsuurt gold project.

Following the closing of the Lagunas Norte acquisition, Boroo announced that it would evaluate strategic alternatives, including a potential “go-public” transaction through an initial public offering of its common stock or a reverse takeover transaction.

Under Barrick’s ownership, the mine produced more than ten-million ounces of gold. While placed on care and maintenance in 2019, Lagunas Norte’s gold recovery plant has continued to produce gold from leach pad ore and Boroo said it expected to recover more than 100 000 oz of gold inventory by 2023.

The next phase of Lagunas Norte would be to recover gold from carbonaceous oxide ore through the carbonaceous material oxides project (CMOP) and sulphide ore through the refractory material project (PMR), the company stated, noting that the development of a sulphide processing infrastructure offered the ability to unlock district potential.

The CMOP and PMR development opportunities are supported by a 2018 feasibility study and subsequent optimisation studies commissioned by Barrick.

“With significant upside potential in our portfolio, Boroo's priorities are to efficiently unlock value from the advanced-stage CMOP development project, extend the life of the existing heap leach operation, pursue various optimisation initiatives and advance near-mine exploration projects,” commented Erdenebaatar.

Boroo paid $81-million and assumed Barrick’s closure liabilities of $226-million, backed by an existing $173-million bonding obligation, for Lagunas Norte. The transaction also includes a $2 net smelter return royalty on gold and silver produced through the PMR.