A proposed change in processing methods would result in substantial cost savings for Santa Fe Pacific Gold (NYSE) at its Mule Canyon gold project in northern Nevada.
By processing high-grade refractory ore at the autoclave being constructed at the Twin Creeks gold mine (45 miles northeast of Winnemucca), the company will be able to cut capital costs by US$120 million to US$60 million. The remaining Mule Canyon reserves would be extracted by heap leaching.
Mule Canyon is expected to begin producing gold in mid-1997. Annual output is projected at 100,000 oz. over the mine’s 8-year mine life.
Meanwhile, Santa Fe continues to identify additional reserves. Currently, four drill rigs are evaluating extensions to the planned pits.
A new feasibility study, incorporating the changes to the Mule Canyon operating plan, is expected by the end of the first quarter of 1996.
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