New Europe, Belgium
Oct 20 2007
Iberian to boost gold output in Armenia 30-fold in 2009
20 October 2007 – Issue : 752
Australia’s Iberian Resources plans to launch a new recovery plant in
Megri, southern Armenia in October 2009 that will enable it to
produce up to 10 kg of gold per day instead of the current 10
kilograms per month, Interfax reported.
The head of Iberian’s Armenian office, Manvel Bagratian said the
existing plant processes up to 7,000 tonnes of ore per month, while
the new one will have capacity for up to 2,000 tonnes of ore per day.
The existing plant recovers gold mechanically and the recovery rate
is only up to 40 percent he said. The remaining ore is stored in
tailings dumps for further processing at the future plant, which will
recover gold chemically, using cyanide, increasing the recovery rate
to 97 percent. The old plant will be closed.
Bagratian said the overall cost of the project is estimated at 65
million Euro, including 18-20 million Euro for construction of the
green field plant. About five million Euro -six million Euro will be
spent on further exploration. The company also plans to invest in
infrastructure and the operation of the mine. Iberian has invested 22
million Euro in Armenia’s mining sector since 2005, he said. Iberian
Resources has been developing the Terterasar gold deposit in Megri
since 1995, as well as developing on an experimental basis the
Lichkvaz-Tei polymetal deposit 5 kilometres away.
According to preliminary data, Lichkvaz-Tei holds 3.6 million tonnes
of ore and 17 tonnes of gold with an average grading of five g/t.
Terterasar’s reserves are estimated at 100,000 tonnes of ore and
three tonnes of gold. Both deposits also contain silver, lead and
copper, but the company is focusing on mining the gold, Bagratian
said. Next year there are plans to conduct further exploration to
reassess the gold reserves.
Bagratian said Iberian has already sold the first 50 kilograms of
gold mined in Armenia, in the form of bars with average gold content
of 82 percent, for about one million Euro.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress