Name of the Project
Fenix gold project.

Location
The Maricunga mineral belt of the Atacama region, in Chile.

Project Owner/s
Rio2.

Project Description
Rio2 has completed an updated prefeasibility study (PFS) on the Fenix project.

Compared with the 2014 PFS, the 2019 PFS is strategically focused on an optimally configured mine plan that will facilitate the shortest possible timeline to construction and production, a lower initial capital expenditure, higher grades initially being mined and a lower initial strip ratio.

The PFS focuses on a low-cost heap-leach gold mine with 1.83-million ounces of gold reserves grading 0.49 g/t.

Under the 2019 PFS mine plan, the project has a 16-year mine life, with average production of 85 000 oz/y of gold for total life-of-mine production of 1.37-million ounces of gold.

High-grade ore will be crushed to P80 size of 4 inches using a single-stage gyratory crusher, with lime dosing occurring before the crushed ore is fed to a stockpile. Crushed ore will be rehandled and trucked from the stockpile to the leach pad. Agglomeration will not be required. Low-grade ore will be mined and stockpiled for crushing and leaching in later years.

Processing operations will treat the solutions from the heap-leach facility operation in a new adsorption, desorption and refining plant capable of treating 20 000 t/d of ore to the leach pad. The plant layout is designed to be upgradeable to 40 000 t/d.

Potential Job Creation
More than 1 000 jobs will be created during construction of the mine and more than 500 when the mine enters production.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $168-million and an internal rate of return of 31.9%, with a payback of three years.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at $111.2-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2021 and first gold production for the fourth quarter of 2022.

Latest Developments
The environmental-impact assessment for the Fenix gold project has failed to win the support of a regional evaluation commission, which includes 12 governmental institutions.

Rio2 believes that its project fulfils the applicable regulations and will evaluate its options and decide on an action plan.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Rio2, tel +1604260 2696 or email info@rio2.com.