MEXICO — Minefinders Corp. of Vancouver has poured the first gold-silver doré bar at its Dolores open pit mine in Chihuahua. Commercial production should be reached in Q1 2009 and the mine will produce 1.7 million oz of gold and 64 million oz of silver over a 15-year mine life.
The Dolores project includes an open pit mine, heap leaching and Merrill-Crowe plant. Gold and silver production will rise as ore tonnes under leach increase and leach recovery curves reach their peaks. There are currently more than 650,000 tonnes of ore stacked on the leach pad with 425,000 tonnes presently under leach. The three-stage crushing and stacking rates have reached sustained levels of 12,000 to 16,000 t/d and are expected to reach design capacity of 18,000 t/d by the end of the year. In addition, the Merrill Crowe plant is fully commissioned.
Recent photos of operations at Dolores can be viewed at www.Minefinders.com in the Dolores gallery.
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