Eldorado tables Kisladag study

Vancouver — In the aftermath of a 16,000-metre drilling effort, Eldorado Gold (ELD-T) has tabled a scoping study that envisions a 10-year mine life for the promising Kisladag gold property in western Turkey.

Using an assumed production rate of 3.3 million tonnes per year (9,500 tonnes per day), the study puts the mine grade at 1.5 grams gold per tonne, with annual production hitting 103,000 oz. over the life of the operation. Initial capital costs are pegged at US$37.3 million; cash operating costs, at US$151 per oz.

If the annual rate is raised to 10 million tonnes (28,500 tonnes per day), the grade changes to 1.4 grams gold and life-of-mine annual production increases to 266,000 oz. Also, initial capital costs would soar to US$104.5 million, though cash operating costs would slip to US$138 per oz.

Using a gold price of US$275 per oz., the internal rates of return for the two mining proposals (after taxes and royalties) are 17% and 21%, respectively.

Both proposals call for an owner-operated mining fleet system for an open-pit, heap-leach operation with three stages of crushing. The stripping ratios are estimated to be 0.34-to-1 for the 3.3-million-tonne scenario and 0.9-to-1 for 10 million tonnes.

Micon International, in conjunction with Eldorado, used a cutoff grade of 0.4 gram to estimate a total resource of 181.4 million tonnes grading 1.14 grams (6.6 million contained ounces), based on 16,000 metres of percussion, core and RC drilling. The measured and indicated portion accounts for 126 million tonnes grading 1.2 grams, equivalent to 4.8 million oz. The deposit remains open at depth, and Eldorado believes it could contain as much as 12 million oz.

Eldorado plans to table a prefeasibility study for Kisladag in the first quarter. A bankable feasibility study is slated for early 2002.

On the exploration front, the junior intends to drill-test the promising Sayacik prospect later this year. Situated about 5 km southwest of Kisladag, Sayacik occupies the centre of the Beydag volcano and has a geological, geochemical and geophysical signature similar to that of Kisladag.

Eldorado also holds a 100% interest in the Efemcukuru gold project, 200 km west of Kisladag. Efemcukuru hosts a proven and probable reserve of 1.9 million tonnes grading 13.14 grams, equivalent to 784,000 oz. The total resource stands at 2.5 million tonnes grading 13.71 grams, or 1.1 million contained ounces.

The company envisions Efemcukuru as a high-grade, 800-tonne-per-day, underground operation utilizing gravity and flotation. A prefeasibility study assumed a yearly production rate of 87,000 oz. at a cash operating cost of US$177 per oz.

Revisions to the study suggest that the final concentrate could be treated at Kisladag, which would reduce cash costs to US$149 per oz. while generating a pretax internal rate of return of 40.7%.