Mining and Heap Leaching Resume At Kisladag

 

VANCOUVER, BC - Eldorado Gold Corporation reported that it will resume mining, crushing, stacking and heap leaching at its Kisladag gold mine in Turkey. Advancement of the previously announced mill project has been suspended.  

President and CEO, George Burns, said, “The  decision to restart mining and heap leaching at Kisladag is supported by improved heap leach recoveries and confirmed by a revised heap leaching plan developed in early 2019. The revised heap leaching plan results in favorable economics when compared to milling, without the risks associated with the construction and financing of a $500 million project.”

The benefits of resuming mining and heap leaching are expected to include: Improved economics of heap leaching when compared to the mill project, demonstrates an increase in production and free cash flow over the next three years and a significant reduction in capital development costs; The flexibility to consider debt retirement and address balance sheet leverage in 2019; Lower construction risks; Lower financing risks, as mining and heap leaching will not require external funding; The potential for higher heap leach recoveries and the ability to extend heap leach mine life by conducting further metallurgical tests on deeper material in the pit under a longer leach cycle for both the three year guidance and beyond.

Mining is expected to recommence by the end of the first quarter. The three year guidance is based on mining and stacking an initial 22 million tonnes of ore grading over 1.1 grams per tonne gold during the next three years, as well as continuing to leach the material currently on the pad.

The Company previously provided an update on Kisladag operations based on laboratory test work undertaken during the third quarter, which indicated that lower recoveries were expected from the zone of mineralization located around the base of the open pit where mining was underway. Based on available information, in the first quarter 2018, the Company elected to suspend mining in order to evaluate processing options. Following a year of engineering and testwork, in October 2018 the Company announced that the Board of Directors had approved the advancement of a mill project. Subsequent to that announcement, gold recovery from the leach pad increasingly exceeded expectations. The Company then focused testwork and analysis on the viability of resuming mining and heap leaching at Kisladag.

In parallel to mill engineering and analysis, testwork to extract maximum value from material already placed on the heap leach pad and the remaining reserves was ongoing throughout 2018. Approximately 900,000 tonnes of ore were placed on an inter-lift lined test pad in the first quarter of 2018.  Late in the year, results from this pad were showing recoveries of approximately 58% from an extended leach cycle approaching 250 days (compared to approximately 40% recoveries from the original 90 day column tests). In early 2019, the Company analyzed the new data and developed revised heap leaching plans, showing improved economics for the heap leaching scenario. As a result, the Company decided to resume mining and heap leaching.