A feasibility study has recommended that the Mizek project in Kazakstan be developed into a gold and silver producer.
Steppe Gold Resources (SPE-V) envisages a 1.1-Million-Tonne-per-year heap-leach operation with a capital cost of US$23.3 million. Over a projected life span of five years, production is expected to total 324,000 oz. gold and 260,000 oz. silver. Life-Of-Mine cash costs are estimated at US$137 per oz.
Steppe expects the operation to yield 80,000 oz. gold in the first full year of production, at a cash cost of less than US$120 per oz.
Based on these projections, Steppe Gold has elected to begin construction before project financing has been completely arranged. Leach pad construction has begun, as has assembly of a 100-Man accommodation complex.
The Mizek deposit contains proven and probable reserves of 5.5 million tonnes grading 2.14 grams gold per tonne and inferred resources of 1.2 million tonnes at 0.8 gram gold, based on a cutoff grade of 0.8 gram gold.
The life-Of-Mine waste-To-Ore ratio is calculated to be 0.4-To-1 (0.15 if inferred resources are included).
The reserves include neither the sulphide deposits at the base of the proposed open pits nor the deeper sulphide gold-Copper deposits amenable to underground mining. These deposits have been estimated to contain indicated and inferred resources totalling 8.9 million tonnes grading 5.4 grams gold and 1% copper.
Gold will be recovered by means of carbon-in-pulp adsorption at a projected rate of more than 80%.
Process water will be accessible from an aquifer 8 km from the mine, and power will be generated on site by diesel equipment.
Ore will be crushed to minus-25 mm with a primary jaw crusher and a secondary cone crusher. It will then be distributed by movable conveyors to a radial stacker for placement on the leach pad. Initially, material from existing mine dumps will be leached; drill testing and sampling of these dumps indicate a grade of between 1 and 2 grams gold.
The first gold production is slated for mid-1998.
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