Toronto-listed Aris Gold on Thursday announced plans to start construction of the Marmato Lower mine, in Caldas, Colombia, with construction of the new camp and administrative areas to begin late this month, followed by the new portal and decline next month.
The Lower mine project includes a new decline and a 4 000 t/d processing facility to expand on the existing Upper mine operations.
First gold from the Lower mine is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023.
"Following our selection of Wood as our EPCM contractor in April 2021, we have completed several optimisations for the Lower mine and are now ready to begin purchasing long-lead order items,” CEO Neil Woodyer stated.
The capital cost estimate for Lower mine remained in line with the prefeasibility study (PFS) estimate of $270-million. The company is using a mining contractor, rather than purchasing an owner-mining fleet.
Aris also announced an updated mineral resource estimate, increasing the measured and indicated resources by 42% to 5.8-million ounces of gold, comprising 56.9-million tonnes at 3.2 g/t. The growth in measured and indicated mineral resources includes an 81% increase in contained gold ounces in the Lower mine.
The life-of-mine plan for the PFS was based on a mineral reserve of two-million ounces of gold consisting of 19.7-million tonnes at an average grade of 3.2 g/t gold.
The PFS gold production profile averages 165 000 oz/y from 2024 through 2033 once the Lower mine is in full production.