Torex Advancing its Morelos Gold Project

Torex Gold has received a final feasibility study from M3 Engineering & Technology for its Morelos gold project, located about 180 km southwest of Mexico City, and has initiated procedures for the imple-mentation of the study’s recommenda-tions to develop the project to commercial production. Capital expenditures to com-mercial production are estimated at $675 million. On October 23, 2012, Torex closed a bought deal for units of the com-pany that raised C$380 million that will be used to fund development of the pro-ject and for general corporate purposes.

The Morelos feasibility study models estimated proven and probable mineral reserves containing 4.1 million oz of gold. The study calls for the development of two independent open-pits to mine the skarn-hosted gold and silver mineralization. The pits will feed a centrally located cyanide-leach/carbon-in-pulp processing plant, with dry stack tailings deposited just to the west of the plant. The life-of-mine strip ratio will be 5.6:1, waste to ore.

The Morelos plant has a designed throughput rate of 14,000 mt/d. Head grade to the mill will be 2.61 g/mt gold and 4.35 g/mt silver. Startup is targeted for 2015.

A two-year ramp-up period will be required before the Morelos pits can de-liver the full designed plant throughput of 14,000 mt/d. Ramp-up will be fol-lowed by 8.5 years of full production, after which production will fall off sharply over the remaining four years.

Production during the first 10 years of Morelos mine life is projected to average 337,000 oz/y of gold and 211,000 oz/y of silver in doré bars. Torex will seek to extend production beyond 10 years through exploration by potentially upgrading ounces currently categorized as inferred mineral resources and by making new discoveries on a highly prospective land package.

As featured in Womp 2012 Vol 11 - www.womp-int.com