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Australian mining company SolGold has $ 95 million invested
Posted On 12 Dec 2018
Ecuadornews:
The Cascabel copper and gold mining project, located in the parishes of Lita and La Carolina, is already considered “world class”. The reason? The mine could have a useful life of between 40 and 50 years. Is that the volume of the resource: 10.9 million tons of copper and 23.3 million ounces of gold, as well as its high grade (concentration of ore per ton) give it that characteristic.
The executives of the Australian mining company SolGold, which owns the concession,yesterday showed the progress of its activity that has gone from advanced exploration to pre-feasibility.
According to Jason Wart, president of the company, the construction phase of the mine could begin in 2021 and due to the location of the resource, which is deep, it has been decided to make an operation through a tunnel and not open sky.
Duringa visit to the Rocafuerte and Alpala fields, the technicians reported that 170,000 meters of drilling have been done to obtain samples. For this they have twelve drills brought from Australia. A noteworthy fact is that a water recirculation system is used, which is treated with products that are friendly to the environment.
It has been estimated that 7,500 people would be employed during the construction phase of the mine.
Currently there are more than 400 jobs directly related.
The Deputy Minister of Mining, Fernando Benalcázar, reported that the company has invested some $ 95 million since 2012, of which $ 51 million has been this year alone.
It is also planned to make new investments for $ 90 million more between 2019 and2020.
Additionally,he stressed that after the construction and production entry of the mine, an additional $ 2,500 million could be injected by the private company. Thus,according to Benalcázar, “mining is the economic solution for the country.”
The company also applies a series of social responsibility programs that involve almost 400 families in the area. They have supported bakery enterprises,broilers, planting coffee in nurseries, among others, according to the area coordinator, Liliana Layedra.
She added that in this sector there are no ancestral communities that should be consulted beforehand. (I)
