The board of directors of Battle Mountain Gold (NYSE) has authorized development of the Phoenix project at the Battle Mountain gold complex in Nevada.
The open-pit, heap-leach project is centred around the 900,000-oz. Phoenix deposit, situated behind the old Fortitude pit. When this deposit is combined with smaller satellite ore zones, the total reserve is estimated at almost 1.5 million oz.
This raises the company’s total proven and probable gold reserves to 8 million oz., compared with 7.3 million oz. at the beginning of 1994. Budgeted at US$87 million and targeted for completion in 1997, the Phoenix project contains proven and probable gold reserves of 28.8 million tons of millable ore with an average grade of 0.043 oz. per ton, and 8.9 million tons of heap-leachable ore grading 0.028 oz.
These figures were calculated on the basis of cutoff grades ranging from 0.008 to 0.023 oz. per ton and a gold price of US$375 per oz. Recovery for millable ore is projected at 85%, while the heap-leach recovery is estimated at 65%.
Additional gold mineralization (8 million tons of millable material grading 0.036 oz., and 1 million tons of heap-leach material grading 0.026 oz.) awaits further drilling and metallurgical evaluation.
Throughput for the new mill is projected at 3.6 million tons per year, while some 1 million tons per year will be processed using existing heap-leach facilities.
In total, the Phoenix project calls for the recovery of more than 1 million oz. gold, as well as 4 million oz. silver. At full production, the project is expected to crank out 170,000 to 200,000 oz. gold per year.
Permitting is under way and a draft environmental impact statement is being prepared. No major capital expenditures are anticipated until permitting is complete.
Reclamation plans at the complex call for waste rock from operating pits to be used as backfill for older pits.
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