De acuerdo a información oficial destinada a sus inversores, la minera argentina junior Patagonia Gold, estima que estará realizando su primer vertido de oro durante el primer trimestre del corriente año.
Esta primera etapa de vertido de mineral, como parte de una operación de pruebas de lixiviación en pilas –cuyo informe de impacto ambiental fue aprobado por Minería de Santa Cruz a mediados de 2010–, representará, según opinión de funcionarios de la compañía, “un importante hito para Patagonia Gold, porque pasará a ser de empresa exploradora a productora de oro”.
Este avance, de acuerdo a la evaluación del operador de bolsa de la empresa, contribuye a posicionar las acciones de la compañía argentina, ya que “estamos subiendo el precio objetivo de 28 a 70 libras, principalmente porque estamos incrementando el piso del precio de oro”.
SANTA CRUZ: CONSULTORA AFIRMA QUE LOMADA DE LEIVA COMENZARÁ A OPERAR EN 1T 2011
Mining Press
Matrix Corporate Capital, el broker de la minera junior Patagonia Gold, publicó un reporte en el que destaca que el proyecto aurífero de su cliente en Lomada de Leiva, en Santa Cruz, está avanzando hacia su primer vertido de oro, planificado para principios del primer trimestre de 2011.
Esta primera fase de vertido de mineral, como parte de una operación de testeo de pilas de lixiviación, representará un importante hito para Patagonia Gold porque la transformará de empresa exploradora a productora emergente de oro.
Matrix prevé una producción a corto plazo, más conversiones de recurso, éxitos en las actuales exploraciones y catalizadores a corto plazo para una mayor valoración. “Estamos subiendo el precio objetivo de 28 lb a 70 lb, principalmente porque estamos incrementando el piso del precio de oro”, dice el informe.
FIRST GOLD POUR AT LOMADA PHASE 1
Patagonia Gold is expected to pour its first gold from the Lomada de Leiva gold trial heap-leach project, which is on track for an early Q1 2011 start-up. The El Tranquilo property block is the centrepiece of resource growth, as it hosts several known goldbearing targets, including the flagship Cap Oeste deposit, which contains a global resource of c.656k oz of gold equivalent. We view near-term production, further resource conversions and ongoing exploration success as near-term catalysts for a higher valuation. We are raising our target price to 70p from 28p, primarily because we are upgrading our gold-price deck. Our target price is based on our DCF-derived valuation approach of 1.0x NPV.
• The Lomada de Leiva development is progressing towards pouring its first gold, scheduled for early Q1 2011. This gold pour at Lomada should be a milestone for Patagonia, turning it from an explorer to an emerging gold producer. This first stage of gold pour is part of a trial heap-leach operation of 50kt test pad, designed to produce around 2.2-2.5kozs of gold initially. A successful trial heap leach should lead to a fully scaled-up 5m-tonne mine operation that would rampup PGD’s annual production to c.21kozs of gold by end 2011.
• The El Tranquilo property, which we believe to potentially contain many million ounces of gold, hosts several very promising gold-bearing targets. The property contains the flagship Cap Oeste project, which the company is currently advancing towards development; a scoping study is under way and expected in Q1 2011. We also expect a compliant resource for the COSE extension following the completion of a 7,000m infill and extension step-out drill program. Further drill programs are currently being conducted on other prospective exploration targets, including the Tango prospect, located southeast of COSE on the Bonanza Fault zone.
• The recently completed $3.5bn acquisition of Andean Resources by Goldcorp has highlighted Argentina as a key region for gold mining, in particular, the Santa Cruz province, where Andean’s principal asset, Cerro Negro, is located. We believe PGD could become generate market interest as a potential bolt-on acquisition as it advances its development projects and grows resources through the drill bit in the Santa Cruz Province.
• Risks: The commercial terms of the Barrick deal have a buyback option up to 70% of any property group if the 43-101 indicated resource of that property group exceeds 2moz. Although this invariably becomes a constraint on any significant increase in resource growth and would impact valuation slightly negatively, we believe that a strategy of production matching resource replacement could test the limits, but still avoid this buyback trigger.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Patagonia Gold (PGD) is an emerging gold producer that offers investors exposure to the gold price through a production growth profile that could see the company achieving annual production of over 230kozs by 2015. With its sizeable land package and the prospective El Tranquilo property block, PGD also offers additional upside to resource growth through systematic drilling, we believe.
Gold miners performed relatively well in 2010, as the high gold-price environment provided strong upward price support. Going into 2011, we believe investors are likely to focus more on companies that can demonstrate growth in resources and that can convert this into strong production growth.
In our view, management has done a solid job following the acquisition of the land package from Barrick Gold. Management has achieved a number of key milestones (eg, discovery, compliant resource conversions, feasibility studies and financing) and is about to enter a new phase as an emerging gold producer, albeit on a relatively small scale, with its first gold pour expected from the Lomada trial heap-leach plant in Q1 2011.
We believe that there is further value to be unlocked, as PGD is well positioned, in our view, for a market re-rating as it achieves this key production milestone and eventually ramps up to full run-rate at the main 5m-tonne operation. The El Tranquilo property remains the centrepiece of resource upgrade and should see a significant step-change in PGD’s production profile, we believe, with Cap Oeste acting as the platform for resource growth.
The rising gold-price environment led to a flurry of M&A activity in the gold sector in 2010. Bulking up by buying into ounces in the ground rather than through the drill bit to showcase growth has been the miners’ principal method of choice.
The takeover of Andean Resource by Goldcorp has highlighted the growing importance of Argentina in gold mining, in our view; the Santa Cruz region, in particular, is fast becoming a major gold province. The acquisition multiple that Goldcorp paid amounted to an EV per oz of c.$1,000, which would peg PGD’s value at around 90p per fully diluted share. However, Goldcorp paid an inherent premium for the larger global resource and blue-sky potential of resource growth at Andean’s Cerro Negro. PGD is still somewhat constrained by the buyback option on indicated resource exceeding 2moz, which was part of the Barrick deal.
In the absence of any M&A, we believe PGD is still an attractive vehicle for investors looking for exposure to the gold price through growth in resource and its subsequent conversion to production. In our view, as PGD evolves into an emerging gold producer, there is likely to be an upward share price re-rating, as this should provide validation that management can convert resources into production. In addition, as production ramps up, the company should also be well positioned as a potential lowcost producer.
We have raised our target price to 70p from 28p, primarily because we are upgrading our gold-price deck. Our target price is based on our DCF-derived valuation approach of 1.0x NPV.
ADVANCED RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Lomada
The first gold pour at the Lomada trial heap-leach project should become a major milestone for PGD. The small-scale production of around 2.2koz of estimated gold during this phase is set to test the effectiveness of the heap-leach operation and demonstrate environmental best practices with a view to obtaining further approval for the full-scale 5m-tonne operation later in the year.
Production is expected to ramp up to a full run-rate of 21kozs, which is also likely to test management’s operational expertise, in our view. We believe that PGD’s module approach has reduced most of the associated technical and financial risks of the project. A successful start-up of Lomada would transform PGD from an explorer into an emerging gold producer and would somewhat reduce the financial risk of the company, we believe, as it establishes a platform for cash generation. The current compliant resource stands at 235koz of gold, and there should be additional replacement tonnage as mining activity begins.
Cap Oeste
The El Tranquilo property block hosts several gold-bearing targets and forms the most prospective of all the property blocks in PGD’s asset portfolio. The principal asset, Cap Oeste, currently contains over 60% of the company’s compliant global resource.
Preliminary metallurgical testwork has indicated that the lower-grade near-surface material could potentially be amenable to conventional open-pit heap-leaching technology. Our expectation remains that capex could be slightly higher for the open-pit operation – at $10m at Cap Oeste compared with the $8.5m at Lomada, due to narrower ore body.
The high-grade shoots are expected to be mined underground, with previous guidance estimating around 150koz, representing the bulk of production and early capex of $150m. A scoping study is expected in Q1 2011 and should include both open-pit and underground mining methods with processing alternatives.
COSE
As PGD brings Lomada into production and advances its flagship Cap Oeste project towards development, the COSE deposit provides some optionality for immediate growth. The deposit is a down-plunge shoot with high-gold-grade mineralisation and remains open at depth. Due to an expected high-strip ratio at surface, a decline with underground mining is the envisaged approach to mining activity. The capex for the proposed decline is expected at around $8.5m.
COSE is currently undergoing a second phase of infill drilling as part of a 7,000m drill program to test the limits of the breccia mineralisation and increase confidence in the existing resource and grade continuity throughout the mineralisation. We expect both a compliant resource and a preliminary economic assessment in Q1 2011, which would enable the company to fast-track the development of the resource. Preliminary metallurgical testwork has indicated that the high-grade mineralisation of the COSE deposit is amenable to gravity separation and could be easily processed on site, thereby reducing processing costs. Potentially, the highgrade ore could also be directly shipped to nearby smelters, eliminating the need for a processing plant.
La Manchuria
The relatively small size of the La Manchuria resource, its improved gold grades and its 50km proximity to Cap Oeste makes it well positioned as a satellite ore-feeder system. Further drilling is earmarked through a 6,000m infill drill program and stepout drilling, which would test the limits of the mineralisation as the system, which consists of several veins, remains open along strike and down dip. The current compliant resource stands at 146koz of gold equivalent.
PUBLICADO EL 15/11/10
SANTA CRUZ: PATAGONIA GOLD EXPLICA AVANCES EN LOMADA DE LEIVA
Patagonia Gold
• La construcción de la plataforma para la lixiviación en pilas de 50.000 toneladas en el proyecto Lomada de Leiva continúa progresando de acuerdo a lo planeado, con la finalización en tiempo de los movimiento de suelos y terminación de las obras civiles.
• Patagonia Gold ha comenzado un programa de sondajes de relleno y extensión del recurso consistente en 38 pozos de perforación con Diamantina HQ por 4.700 metros, que apunta a la mineralización inferida y periférica en Lomada de Leiva y sus alrededores.
El Proyecto de lixiviación de oro de Lomada de Leiva (el proyecto Lomada) está situado dentro del bloque de propiedades de La Paloma, aproximadamente a 40 kms al sur de la ciudad de Perito Moreno. Actualmente contiene un recurso de 161.346 onzas de oro certificadas de acuerdo al Instrumento Nacional Canadiense 43-101 (NI 43-101) en las categorías medidas e indicadas, con 73.725 onzas de oro adicionales inferidas.
Prueba Metalúrgica:
La primera etapa del proyecto Lomada consiste en la construcción de una plataforma para la prueba metalúrgica de lixiviación en pilas de 50.000 toneladas, que basado en una recuperación del 70% se estima que rinda aproximadamente 2.200 onzas de oro para la primera pila de 6 metros.
La construcción de la plataforma comenzó a fines de septiembre. La base de la plataforma de 100 mts x 100 mts, las piletas de solución rica y de solución pobre, el sitio de ubicación del equipamiento para la prueba metalúrgica y el dique de contención de emergencia han sido todos completados; la base de la plataforma así como las piletas han sido impermeabilizadas con geomembranas de PVC de alta densidad. Material filtrado ha sido esparcido sobre la base de toda la plataforma de lixiviación, con una altura de 30 centimetros, que ahora está lista para la carga del mineral.
Se ha finalizado un programa de sondajes de aire reversa para control de los valores de oro, consistente en 89 pozos de perforación por 2,645 metros, con un total de 2,660 muestras recolectadas y enviadas al laboratorio ACME Analytical Laboratories, en Mendoza. La interpretación y el modelado de la información obtenida se está evaluando para la delineación de aproximadamente 50,000 metros cúbicos (110,000 toneladas) de mineral.
La perforación y la voladura del primer paquete de 20,000 toneladas de mineral está programada para mediados de noviembre e inmediatamente después comenzará el minado, acarreo y carga del mineral sobre la plataforma de la pila de lixiviación que se estima se finalizará a fines de año.
PUBLICADO EL 16/11/10
SANTA CRUZ: MÁS SOBRE CONSTRUCCIÓN DE LOMADA (PATAGONIA GOLD)
Avanza construcción en Lomada de Leiva
AIMSA
La minera argentina Patagonia Gold informó que continúan dentro de los plazos previstos, los avances en su proyecto aurífero de Lomada de Leiva, ubicado a unos 40 kilómetros al sur de Perito Moreno.
De acuerdo a la información suministrada por la empresa, “la construcción de la plataforma para la lixiviación en pilas de 50.000 toneladas en el proyecto Lomada de Leiva continúa progresando de acuerdo a lo planeado, con la finalización en tiempo de los movimiento de suelos y terminación de las obras civiles”.
Al mismo tiempo, Patagonia Gold ha comenzado un programa de sondajes de relleno y extensión del recurso consistente en 38 pozos de perforación con diamantina, con el fin de confirmar la mineralización inferida y periférica en Lomada de Leiva y sus alrededores.
El proyecto de lixiviación de oro de Lomada de Leiva está situado dentro del bloque de propiedades de La Paloma, en el Macizo del Deseado. Actualmente contiene un recurso de 161.346 onzas de oro certificadas en las categorías medidas e indicadas, con 73.725 onzas de oro adicionales inferidas.
La primera etapa del proyecto Lomada consiste en la construcción de una plataforma para la prueba metalúrgica de lixiviación en pilas de 50.000 toneladas, que basado en una recuperación del 70% se estima que rinda aproximadamente 2.200 onzas de oro para la primera pila de 6 metros.
La construcción de la plataforma comenzó a fines de septiembre. La base de la misma, las piletas, el sitio de ubicación del equipamiento para la prueba metalúrgica y el dique de contención de emergencia han sido todos completados; la base de la plataforma así como las piletas han sido impermeabilizadas con geomembranas de PVC de alta densidad. Material filtrado ha sido esparcido sobre la base de toda la plataforma de lixiviación, con una altura de 30 centímetros, que ahora está lista para la carga del mineral.
La perforación y la voladura del primer paquete de 20.000 toneladas de mineral está programada para mediados de noviembre e inmediatamente después comenzará el minado, acarreo y carga del mineral sobre la plataforma de la pila de lixiviación que se estima se finalizará a fines de año.
La construcción de los cimientos de concreto y del área de la base para la instalación del equipamiento para la prueba metalúrgica está en progreso. Se prevé que la instalación esté terminada para el primer trimestre de 2011. La irrigación de la pila de lixiviación comenzará luego para obtener la primera producción de oro.
Dependiendo del éxito del proceso de lixiviación y la obtención de los permisos adicionales, continuarán nuevas cargas y producción luego de esta primera etapa hasta que el proyecto principal de lixiviación de 5 millones de toneladas se encuentre totalmente operativo, lo cual se ha programado esté concluido para el cuarto trimestre de 2011.
En el proyecto Lomada de Leiva, al igual que en los otros prospectos de Patagonia Gold en Santa Cruz, la minera argentina está asociada a la estatal santacruceña Fomicruz S.E., merced a un acuerdo suscripto en 2008.
