A 6,000-metre drill program by
The underground and surface drill program is focused on the Retazos gold-silver project, in the Zaruma-Portovelo mining district. The region was worked by the Incas when the Spanish founded the city of Zaruma in the 1500s. Production continued until the outbreak of the Wars of Independence in 1810, following which the district lay dormant for decades.
The camp was revived in the late 1800s and went on to produce an estimated 3.5 million oz. gold and 17 million oz. silver from 8 million tonnes mined from several operations until the 1950s. The camp’s total historic production is reported as being 4.5 million oz. gold and 19 million oz. silver, as well as significant amounts of copper, zinc and lead concentrates.
Over the past 18 months, Iamgold assembled the land package and related data, and formed models suggesting that the potential of the district lies in along-strike and downdip extensions of known mineralization in multiple-vein systems. Because previous operations were confined to near-surface workings, the downdip extensions are largely untested. Local miners are still working some of the shallow workings.
Iamgold says its drill program will be the first, large-scale, systematic drill program in the region in more than 50 years.
The company already produces gold, at the Sadiola Hill mine in Mali. Both Iamgold and its operating partner,
In the first quarter of 2000, Sadiola Hill churned out 139,397 oz. gold at an average cash cost of US$106 per oz. and an average total cost of US$128 per oz. Iamgold posted net earnings of US$2.7 million for the quarter, about the same as in the first three months of 1999. Gold revenue between the two periods rose to US$16.4 million from US$14.1 million.
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