05/12/2024
Mining News

Eldorado Gold’s Greece based gold mine Olympias Phase II Improved Concentrate Sales

Eldorado Gold Corporation reported that it has received multiple tenders for significantly better concentrate sales terms at Greece gold mine Olympias Phase II , where wet commissioning at the project is currently underway.

Eldorado announced that it has received multiple tenders for significantly better concentrate sales terms for material produced beyond 2017. Under the new sales terms, gold payability rates have increased from 58% up to a maximum of 71%, which is expected to result in an increase of approximately 15,000 ounces of payable gold production per year. Annual Phase II production is now estimated to be approximately 85,000 ounces of gold (from 72,000 ounces per year previously) plus approximately 55,000 ounces of gold equivalent production.

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The construction of Phase II is substantially complete and commissioning has commenced. Addition of low grade ore to the crushing circuit is expected next week. Pre-commissioning of the main flotation plant equipment is underway and ore will be introduced in April. Deliveries of first-fill reagents, grinding media, critical and operational spares are on schedule to support second quarter pre-commercial production.

Mined ore has been moved to the surface stockpile adjacent to the crusher for commissioning of the processing facility. Underground development is well positioned to support 2017 production guidance with fourteen stopes in ore on nine different levels complete and ready for extraction. Ore mining will begin shortly in both the east and west ore zones using a drift-and-fill mining method.

Phase II involves processing ore from the underground at a rate of approximately 400,000 tonnes per year. The new processing facility includes new processing equipment within the pre-existing plant building to produce three concentrates: lead-silver, zinc and gold bearing pyrite-arsenopyrite. In 2017, the Olympias mine is budgeted to process 267,000 tonnes of ore at grades of 9.6 grams per tonne gold, 3.4% lead, 3.4% zinc and 105 grams per tonne silver.

Paul Skayman, Eldorado’s Chief Operating Officer, commented: “After a lot of hard work by our team in Greece, we are all very excited to now be at this juncture with commissioning and we expect to declare commercial production from Olympias Phase II in the third quarter”.

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