Gold developer Minera Alamos is targeting a low capital cost gold heap leach operation at its Guadalupe de los Reyes gold project, in Mexico, which the company is acquiring for $6-million from Vista Gold through staged payments.
CEO Darren Koningen said on Monday that the previous owners had already spent a significant amount of time and effort on re-establishing the project as one of the premium advanced stage gold assets in Sinola.
“We are extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to leverage those efforts for the benefit of Minera Alamos stakeholders,” he said.
Koningen noted that historical records had already provided an insight into previous heap leaching testwork for the project, as well as the activities surrounding the small-scale vat leaching facilities that could still be seen at the site.
“By utilising the expertise of our operating team, we plan to rework the overall project development and assess the potential construction of a modern low capex gold heap leach operation,” he added.
The Guadalupe project has an indicated resource of about 6.8-million tonnes with an average grade of 1.73 g/t gold for about 380 100 oz of contained gold and an inferred resource of about 3.2-million tonnes, at a grade of 1.49 g/t gold for about 155 200 oz of contained gold.
Production from any openpit mining operations at the project will be subject to a minimum 1% net smelter return royalty payable to Vista Gold, which could increase up to 2% if gold prices exceed $ 1 600/oz. This royalty is capped at $2-million.
Vista Gold also retains the right to acquire a 49% non-carried interest in the development of underground gold resources should Minera Alamos decide at a later date to pursue potential zones of deep mineralisation.