Eldorado Gold Corporation has received the Environmental Positive Certificate for its 100-percent owned Kisladag Gold Project located in western Turkey. The certificate was granted to the company's wholly-owned Turkish subsidiary, Tuprag Metal Madencilik Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited, by the Turkish Ministry of Environment.
"The acceptance of our Environmental Impact Assessment report and the issuing of the Certificate are major milestones in the permitting process." commented Paul Wright, president and chief executive officer.
"The timely receipt of the certificate reaffirms the company's confidence in its development schedule, which anticipates a construction decision in the fourth quarter 2003. The Kisladag project's development schedule benefits from the continued support of the local community and all levels of government."
Kisladag, with a proven and probable mineral reserve of 4,532,000 ounces, is planned as a conventional 15-year, open pit, heap leach gold mine. A mine production rate of five million tons per annum (Mtpa) of ore producing 143,000 ounces per year has been set for the first four years of the mine's life.
Annual ore production will increase to 7.5 Mtpa in year five and to 10 Mtpa producing 230,000 ounces of gold per year in year six, remaining at that level until the end of the mine life. Total quantities of ore and waste mined will be 115 Mt and 106 Mt respectively, resulting in a life of mine strip ratio of 0.92.
Cash operating cost over the life of the mine is anticipated to be $152 /oz of gold. In addition to completing the permitting and land acquisition necessary for construction, the company continues to drill on the property with the objective to further extend limits of oxide mineralization and upgrade inferred resources within the existing pit design.
Eldorado is a gold producing and exploration company with gold assets in Brazil and Turkey. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
