Development plan in works for Cieneguita joint venture

An operating and production plan is in place for the Cieneguita gold deposit in Mexico’s Chihuahua state.

Glamis Gold (TSE) acquired a 60% interest in the heap-leach project from Aquiline Resources (VSE) by funding the project to a production decision.

The joint venture plans to proceed with a first phase of mining and leaching on a limited scale, using the existing pilot plant facilities.

Glamis built a 10,000-tonne pilot-scale leach plant last year, stacking and leaching about 8,000 tonnes grading 2.2 grams gold per tonne and netting an overall recovery of about 70%.

Glamis plans to re-use the existing pad to leach a further 10,000 tonnes.

Cash flow from this initial phase will be used to expand the operation as the joint venture sees fit.

At last report, the Cieneguita contained an estimated drill-indicated reserve of 3.6 million tonnes grading 1.7 grams gold.

Glamis will operate the mining and leaching operation while Aquiline proceeds to explore several other manto-type gold targets.

Glamis will finance Aquiline’s 40% share of joint-venture costs through a loan repayable from project cash flow.

Elsewhere, in Sonora state, Aquiline has agreed to acquire the Jojoba gold property, where previous drilling outlined several gold zones. For a 100% interest, the company must pay US$2 million over the next 30 months.