Canadian mining company Aris Mining has announced a more than 75% increase in the mineral reserve estimates for its Segovia gold-silver operations in Colombia.
The estimated proven and probable gold reserve at Segovia has been increased to 1,320koz from last year’s estimate of 755koz.
The updated mineral reserve estimate follows the updated mineral resource estimate announced earlier this month, said the Canadian mining company.
Aris is also expanding the Maria Dama processing plant within the Segovia operations from the initial 2,000 tonnes per day (tpd) processing capacity to 3,000tpd.
The plant expansion is estimated to cost around $11m and be completed by early 2025.
Aris Mining CEO Neil Woodyer said: “We are pleased to announce a 75% increase to the high-grade mineral reserves at the Segovia Operations to 1.3 million ounces of gold at 11.63 grams per tonne.
“Based on our current operating profile, the updated estimate extends the reserve-only mine life to nearly seven years.
“Like other operations with extensive vein systems within a large mining title, we expect to continue to extend mine life through ongoing exploration programmes.”
The Maria Dama plant comprises crushing, grinding, gravity concentration, gold flotation and regrind, cyanidation, Merrill-Crowe precipitation, and smelting equipment to produce gold-silver doré.
It also has a previously purchased ball mill which is already onsite and the re-location and upgrade of the facilities that receive material from our artisanal and small-scale mining partners.
The existing ball mill will enhance the throughput and enable effective use of the current facilities, increasing the overall gold recovery rate for all processed materials, said Aris.
Also, the company intends to design a new receiving facility for partner-mined material, to increase the volumes and efficiency of the plant.
Woodyer added: “Based on the increased mineral resource and reserve estimates, we are implementing a small-scope project to increase the processing capacity by 50% to 3,000tpd at the Maria Dama plant by utilizing a previously purchased ball mill that is already on-site.
“This creates the potential to gradually increase annual gold production from 200,000 to 300,000 ounces, as we fill the extra capacity by increasing our mining rates.
“A portion of this extra capacity will be allocated to our artisanal and small-scale mining partners, offering processing solutions to them, while mitigating the environmental impacts of informal mining in Segovia.”
