Newmont weighs up Kori Chaca

The world's biggest gold miner, Denver-based Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM), continues to weigh up development of the Kori Chaca gold deposit in southwest Bolivia, company spokesperson Doug Hock told BNamericas. "We are looking at a variety of options and selling it is obviously one of them," said Hock, adding that the deposit was economic at current gold prices. Newmont owns 88% of Bolivian miner Inti Raymi that holds small-scale Kori Chaca and also operates the Kori Kollo gold mine 40km away. A feasibility study was recently completed on the project, said Hock. Newmont has envisaged production of 230,000oz/y of gold over two years at Kori Chaca, with 12Mt grading 0.8g/t. Kori Chaca was seen as an open-pit, satellite heap-leach operation with the ore being trucked back to Kori Kollo for carbon stripping at the existing plant there, Hock said previously. The larger Kori Kollo deposit is in the process of being closed down because of depleted reserves. Mining will cease at Kori Kollo later this year with leach production continuing until stockpiles are depleted, said Hock. Newmont expects equity gold sales from the mine this year of 135,000oz at a total cash cost of approximately $220/oz, he said. Inti Raymi was originally formed by Bolivia's Zeland Mines and West World Resources of the US, with 50% each, before Battle Mountain acquired an initial 33% and later 88% of the company. Battle Mountain was taken over by Newmont early 2001. Elsewhere in the region Newmont has 51.35% of the 2.5Moz/y Yanacocha gold mine in Peru and 44% of La Herradura gold project in Mexico.