Goldcorp receives approval for morro

摘要

The nEnvironment Evaluation Commission for the northern Chilean nregion of Atacama has approved plans by Goldcorp to develop nits El Morro copper-gold project, the company said. The nCanadian firm plans to spend $2.5 billion to develop the nmine, which will have capacity to process 90,000 mt/day of nore and produce 2,000 mt/day of copper-gold concentrate. A nstudy completed by previous owner Xstrata Copper estimated nproduction at 195,285 mt/year of copper and 353,774 ozyear of gold during its five years. The reserves at El Morro, 30% nowned by New Gold, total 450 million mt, with a cut-off grade nof 0.58% and 0.47 grams of gold/mt. Production is scheduled nto begin in 2015. In addition to the mine and concentrator, nthe company has committed to building a desalination plant to nsupply water to the mine without affecting local water supplies. nThe company will also build a new access road to the project nto reduce the impact on local farming communities and use nthickened tailings technology to reduce water use. The project nis expected to create 5,500 jobs during the construction phase nand 2,000 jobs during its operation