Glamis OKs Imperial development

Construction and development of the Imperial project in Kern Cty., Calif., are expected to start in the second quarter of 1997.

Glamis Gold (TSE) has completed a feasibility study on the project, which hosts a proven and probable reserve of 94 million tons grading 0.017 oz. gold per ton at a stripping ratio of 3-to-1.

The gold mineralization is oxidized, and, based on operating experience at its nearby Picacho mine, Glamis expects to achieve recoveries of 70% using run-of-mine leaching (no crushing).

The capital cost of the planned 9.4-million-ton-per-year heap-leaching operation is estimated at US$47.6 million.

Glamis projects annual average output at 103,850 oz. during the initial 10 years of operation at a cash production cost of US$214 per oz. Total costs, including depreciation, amortization, royalties and taxes, are expected to total US$292 per oz.

The project is 8 miles west of the Picacho, an open-pit heap-leach mine from which the company extracted 25,290 oz. gold in the year ended June 30, 1995.

Meanwhile, at the Rand Mining operation, also in Kern Cty., Glamis has completed an optimization study which recommends the addition of up to six new 190-ton haulage trucks and a 24-cubic-yard hydraulic shovel.

The optimization is expected to reduce cash operating costs to US$195 per oz.; as a result, total costs at Rand would be about US$298 per oz.

Once the new mining plan is in place, the operation is expected to produce 90,000 oz. gold per year.

The mine encompasses three open pits containing an estimated proven and probable reserve of 58.3 million tons grading 0.023 oz. gold per ton at an over-all stripping ratio of 1.73-to-1. The project contains a further possible reserve of 43.4 million tons grading 0.018 oz. gold.

Glamis plans to fund the Rand upgrade from cash flow and existing lines of credit. Capital for the Imperial project should be in place by the fall of 1996.

Based on its plans for the Imperial and Rand operations, Glamis expects to increase its annual production rate to 195,000 oz. at an average cash operating cost of US$205 per oz.

In the quarter ended March 31, Glamis produced 24,629 oz. gold from its Rand and Picacho operations. The company earned US$74,000 for the quarter, compared with a loss of US$45,000 in the same period last year.