Name of the Project
Santa Luz gold project.
Location
Bahia state, in Brazil.
Project Owner/s
Leagold Mining Corporation.
Project Description
Santa Luz is a brownfield past-producing mine and the majority of site services and infrastructure is already in place.
The project comprises the C1, Antas 2, Antas 3, Mansinha South, Mansinha North and Mari deposits, with total proven and probable openpit mineral reserves of 24.94-million tonnes grading 1.34 g/t gold contained in the C1 and Antas 3 deposits, and in existing stockpiles.
Initial production will come from the C1 deposit and stockpiles; Antas 3 will be mined from 2024 to 2029.
Santa Luz will be a conventional off-road truck-and-hovel openpit mining operation, which will use a mining contractor for material movement.
Processing will include two-stage crushing (a jaw crusher and a cone crusher) and two-stage grinding (semiautogenous grinding, or SAG, mill and ball mill), resin-in-leach (RIL), elution and electrowinning. The nominal throughput rate is projected to be 7 400 t/d, plus 1.5 additional years at a lower rate from residual stockpile feed for a total 9.5-year mine life.
The project is forecast to produce 903 000 oz gold over the life-of-mine.
The design includes a new ball mill with its own alkaline electrowinning circuit, as well as new RIL and gravity concentration circuits.
The plan also calls for the repair, refurbishment and improvement of the SAG mill, conical crusher, numerous belt conveyors and the water treatment plant. This will include a new primary crusher system, including new earthworks and concrete, a jaw crusher, vibrating grizzly, ore bin and liner, as well as an apron feeder and belt conveyors. Additional improvements to the existing process plant include secondary slurry and resin pumps, resin wash columns, a kerosene pre-treatment circuit, and a heat exchanger and water treatment plant for the elution system.
Potential Job Creation
The project requires 420 employees during operations, with three rotating eight-hour shifts for a total of about 750 jobs during operations. Most of the workforce will come from surrounding communities.
Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $305-million and an internal rate of return of 58%, with a payback of less than two years.
Capital Expenditure
The project has an approved construction budget of $103.1-million.
The initial capital costs to restart the mine include refurbishing existing infrastructure, retrofitting the plant, installing additional grinding power and increasing the storage capacities of the existing tailings and water storage facilities.
Planned Start/End Date
Equinox Gold started early works construction on Santa Luz in the second quarter of 2020. The first gold pour is expected in the first quarter of 2022.
Latest Developments
Equinox Gold has launched into full construction at its Santa Luz gold mine, which is expected to start contributing cash flow to the company in 2021.
Openpit stripping is expected to begin in February 2021. Modifications and upgrades to the processing plant, and tailings and water storage facilities, are expected to be completed by the end of 2021, with first gold pour targeted for the first quarter of 2022.
Process plant detailed engineering is 99% complete, the engineering design for the mine expansion and tailings and water storage facility expansions is almost complete, with the plant site cleared and levelled.
Most of the major pieces of equipment are on site and all long-lead-time equipment has been ordered.
Key Contracts and Suppliers
MIP Engineering (general contractor).
Contact Details for Project Information
Leagold Mining Corporation, tel +1 604 398 4505 or email info@leagold.com.