https://www.miningweekly.com

Loma Larga to be Ecuador’s next large-scale development

30th November 2018

By: Mariaan Webb

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

     

Font size: - +

One of the five so-called strategic mining projects of Ecuador – Loma Larga – has received a positive feasibility study and is now on the path to accelerated development, with project developer IVN Metals aiming to break ground in early 2020.

The feasibility study calculated, on an after-tax basis, an internal rate of return of 24.7% and a net present value of $621-million, with a payback period of 2.6 years.

The study confirmed the viability of the gold/copper/silver project, which is intended as a 3 000 t/d operation initially, focusing on the high-grade areas and producing 267 000 oz/y of gold in the first four years.

Total production in a mine life of 12 years will be 2.6-million ounces of gold equivalent, at a cash cost of $540/oz, an all-in sustaining cost of $609/oz and an all-in cost of $768/oz.

The initial preproduction capital expenditure is estimated to be $279-million.

IVN Metals CEO Candace MacGibbon said in a statement that the company had received indicative terms from various smelters that demonstrated strong interest for the purchase of both the concentrates that the Loma Larga mine would produce.

“Loma Larga is a relatively simple mining project that we are committed to executing in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. The underground mine and related processing infrastructure have been designed to have a very minimal footprint, with an estimated disturbance area of less than 80 ha at the project site. The process plant design, the use of paste backfill, and a filtered tailings disposal method will serve to minimise the use of surface water and reduce treated water discharge.”

Ecuador is attracting interest among foreign mining companies as a low-risk, high reward market, where government is supportive of mining, despite a referendum earlier this year restricting mining in protected areas.

The country’s government has identified five projects as strategic, including Loma Larga. The others are Chinese firm Tonglin Non Ferrous Metals Group’s Mirador and San Carlos copper projects, Ecuadorian firm Junefield’s Rio Blanco gold project and Canadian junior Lundin Gold’s Fruta del Norte.

These strategic projects all qualify for additional government emphasis and support.

Over the past year, major foreign miners, including BHP Billiton, Codelco, Newcrest and Anglo American, have all announced plans to invest in the South American country.

IVN believes that the Loma Larga project would be the next large-scale mining development to be financed and permitted in the country, following up on the success of the $684-million Fruta del Norte project, which broke ground last year and is steaming ahead to first production by late next year.

IVN is aiming to produce first concentrate from Loma Larga in late 2021.

The project has an estimated mineral resource of 19.8-million tonnes at 4.25 g/t gold, 27.8 g/t silver and 0.25% copper, containing 3.2-million gold equivalent ounces, comprising 2.7-million ounces of gold, 17.7-million ounces of silver and 109.5-million pounds of copper.

During construction, Loma Larga will employ 875 people and once in production, about 450 people.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION