Equinox Gold Begins Mining at Aurizona

Equinox Gold Corp. announced that mining activities are under way in the Piaba Deposit at its Aurizona gold mine in Brazil. Construction remains on track to pour gold by late 2018. The mining contractor, U&M Mineração e Construção S/A, mobilized to site in March and mining commenced in mid-April. The majority of the mining fleet is on site and U&M has filled most of the planned 200 operator and support positions. U&M is operating two shifts a day and at the start of June will implement a third shift to mine 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Mining activities are currently focused on removing waste from two locations in the Piaba pit and developing access roads in preparation for ore mining in the third quarter of 2018.

“Aurizona will be Equinox Gold’s first operating mine and is expected to produce on average 136,000 ounces of gold per year over the life of the mine,” said Christian Milau, CEO of Equinox Gold. “While the Aurizona operations team is focused on achieving production, Equinox Gold’s exploration team is focused on mine life extension and district-scale opportunities.” Milau said there is 4 kilometers of strike extension to be tested with upcoming exploration programs and a study is under way examining opportunities to develop the underground potential of the gold deposit.

The overall project was 44% complete and engineering, procurement and construction management activities were 61% complete at the end of March. Plant construction was 27% complete at the end of March. Construction is proceeding on schedule and on budget, with $43 million of the $146 million construction budget spent and $76 million committed at the end of March.

As featured in Womp 2018 Vol 05 - www.womp-int.com