CHILE Toronto-based KINROSS GOLD has is again placing ore on the leach pads at its 50%-owned Refugio gold mine in Chile's Region III. The restart of the mine was delayed two months from the original plan.
"We'll have about four months of full gold production from Refugio this year. We were predicting six months of full gold pour," said executive VP and COO Scott Caldwell during a conference call to discuss the company's first half production.
Operated by Kinross, Refugio is due to produce a total of roughly 100,000 oz of gold this year, or 50,000 oz for Kinross. The remainder will go to 50%-owner BEMA GOLD of Vancouver. Next year Refugio will produce 130,000 oz for Kinross based on forecasts, Caldwell said.
The operation has achieved the targeted rate of 40,000 tonnes/day on the leach pads for five consecutive days, and gold is due to be poured from the 120-day leach cycle after 30 days, he said.
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