Overview

GoGold's Parral operation is an agglomerated heap leach facility which is processing historic tailings which are located in the city of Parral.  The tailings are loaded and trucked approximately 11km out of the city, agglomerated, and stacked on a heap leach pad where a solution is applied, and the pregnant solution is processed through a Merril Crowe facility which produces saleable silver, gold, and copper at a low cost.  In addition to producing silver and gold at a low cost, the land currently occupied by the tailings are remediated and reclaimed for the city of Parral.

Production has increased each year that the Parral tailings facility has been in operation.  See the following chart for recent quarterly production and all in sustaining costs per silver equivalent ounce ("AISC").

 

Background & Reserve

The 141 hectare Parral Tailings site is host to 21.3 million tonnes of tailings left over from 340 years of mining operations. Located near the heart of the city, the tailings have become a nuisance to residents and an impediment to development. Fortunately, inefficient historic recovery processes left significant amounts of silver and gold in the tailings. In 2012, GoGold Resources Inc. acquired the rights to the Parral Tailings Project.  GoGold's 2013 pre-feasiblity study defined a reserve of 35 million ounces of silver equivalent (20.3Mt @ 38.4 g/t Ag and 0.31 g/t Au)*. GoGold's heap leach facility was financed and built within 18 months and production began in June 2014.

Technical Report - Resource (May 2013) Technical Report - Pre-Feasability Study (Feb 2013)

The remaining proven & probable reserves were updated effective July 28, 2020.  See news release dated July 29, 2020 for details.  Following is the Mineral Reserve estimate:

Proven & Probable Mineral Reserves – Parral

Category Tonnes Average Grade Contained Metal
Au Ag AuEq AgEq Au Ag AuEq AgEq
  (Mt) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (koz) (koz) (koz) (koz)
Proven  8.7  0.34  32.4 0.71 62  95  9,088 199  17,480
Probable  6.7  0.35  34.8 0.74 66  75  7,483 159  14,106
Total  15.4  0.34  33.4 0.72 64  171  16,570 358  31,585
  1. Mineral Reserves have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Reserves may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant issues.
  2. The Mineral Reserves in this press release were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council.
  3. The Mineral Reserve in this estimate are based on US$1,400/oz Au, US$16/oz Ag, operating costs of US$9.95/t and Au and Ag process recoveries of 65% resulting in a AuEq cut-off grade of 0.34g/t, calculated at an Ag/Au ratio of 87.5:1.

 

Location and Infrastructure

The Project is within the town limits of Hidalgo del Parral, in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. The town has a population of approximately 100,000 and can be easily accessed on a well‐maintained paved highway from the city of Chihuahua. There is also an air strip at Parral which can accommodate light aircraft. Parral is situated at an elevation of approximately 1620 m and has an altitude‐moderated semi‐arid climate.

Parral and the surrounding area is well serviced with numerous hotels, restaurants and other services and has a long tradition of mining. There is an ample supply of skilled personnel, equipment suppliers and contractors sufficient for the Project. Potential for electrical power is available from the local grid and water is available from the local water commission. Telephone and cell coverage are excellent as is access to high‐speed Internet. 

Esmerelda Tailings

In February 2015, GoGold acquired the Esmerelda tailings property containing 5.77 million tonnes at 49 g/t silver and 0.26 g/t gold for an estimated 13.3 million silver equivalent ounces. Material from Esmedelda is expected to be processed at GoGold's existing Parral heap leach facility.

The technical report on the Esmerelda tailings is available below.

Technical Report (April 2015)

The remaining proven & probable reserves were updated effective July 28, 2020.  See news release dated July 29, 2020 for details.  Following is the Mineral Reserve estimate:

Mineral Resource Estimate – Esmerelda

Category Area Tonnes Average Grade Contained Metal
Au Ag AgEq Au Ag AgEq
    (Mt) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) (koz) (koz) (koz)
Measured Upper  3.07  0.24  64  85  23.5  6,339  8,395
Lower  2.60  0.29  32  57  24.6  2,646  4,799
Total  5.67  0.26  49  72  48.1  8,985 13,194
Indicated Upper  0.01  0.18  62  78  -    12  14
Lower  0.05  0.22  46  65  0.3  68  97
Total  0.05  0.00  48  67  0.3  80  112
Measured & Indicated Total  5.72  0.26  49  72  48.4  9,065  13,305
  1. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant issues.
  2. The Mineral Resources in this press release were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council.
  3. The Mineral Resource in this estimate are based on US$1,400/oz Au, US$16/oz Ag, operating costs of US$10.14/t and Au and Ag process recoveries of 50% resulting in a AgEq cut-off grade of 41 g/t, calculated at an Ag/Au ratio of 87.5:1.

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