43-101 2008 Technical Report On The La Fortuna Project, Durango ...

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15.0 OTHER RELEVANT DATA AND INFORMATION 15.1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS Howe is not aware of any historic environmental permitting for the project area other that that required for Battle Mountain to receive permits for their drilling program. This environmental permit required Battle Mountain to submit for approval a reclamation plan relating to rehabilitation of drill pads and temporary drill roads. The environmental permitting process for a mining project follows a similar format in that the mining company must submit for approval to the appropriate government agencies an environmental impact statement and a detailed plan for environmental monitoring and protection of the environment during operations plus a plan for closure and reclamation of the proposed project site. The government agencies respond to the company with comments and amendments, which the company must then incorporate into their environmental statement. The final approved document, including the approved closure and rehabilitation plan, when signed off by the government agencies becomes the binding legal document relating to the project. 15.2 ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITTING Castle Gold currently holds two permits: • a “Resolution on Environmental Impact” (or “Manifest on Environmental Impact”), and; • a “Change of Land Use” 15.2.1 Resolution on Environmental Impact • Under the Company’s current Resolution on Environmental Impact, Castle Gold has the right to carry out all work and activities related to the development, operation, maintenance and reclamation of the El Castillo Project over a total area of 108 Ha. • The Resolution allows for a 24 month period to complete any necessary preparatory and construction work, and 10 years for operations and maintenance. The permit can be renewed as long as the company fulfills all the necessary requirements under Mexican law. • Under the current Resolution, Castle Gold is permitted to construct an open pit to a depth of maximum depth of 70 m (or ten 6 m benches) and an initial area of 25 Ha and a 8,000 ton per month production rate. The area may be increased by 5 Ha per year to a maximum of 54.5 Ha. • Under the Resolution, the leach pad may have a capacity of 10 million tons across an area of 33 Ha. This area may be increased by 8 Ha per year. • The two planned waste dump areas will be approximately 14 Ha (6.6 million tons) and 2.74 Ha (1.23 million tons) in area. Any changes to the operations approved under the current Resolution will require further approval of the Sectretaría de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources. An environmental impact assessment for any proposed changes must be submitted to SEMARNAT for evaluation and approval before an amended Resolution on Environmental Impact is issued and the proposed changes allowed to proceed. 48
15.2.2 Change of Land Use The Company’s Change of Land Use permit has a term of 15 years. Application for the permit required a payment to provide “environmental compensation for the change of land use”. The criteria used for determining such payment for affected forestry lands are based on information contained in the Official Federation Diary, dated September 28, 2005. • The Company’s permit covers an area of 108 Ha that is classified as semi-arid land. According to the Official Federation Diary, semi-arid lands are compensated at an approximate ratio of 3:1. Castle Gold was required to pay compensation for an area equivalent to 356 Ha. • Cost calculations are based on a cost of approximately P$0.57 per Ha (according with costs published by the government in April, 2006). Castle Gold was therefore required to pay a compensation of P$2,031,664.90. This payment was made in 2007. 15.3 CLOSURE AND REHABILITATION PLANS As per the requirement of the Change of Land Use permit, Castle Gold has submitted a reclamation plan to SEMARNAT under which Castle Gold will reclaim or rehabilitate the following: • Solution pads: fresh water will be added to the circuit for several days until cyanide concentrations are 10 ppm, then hydrogen peroxide is added until all cyanide has been destroyed. • Solution ponds: after evaporation of existing barren solution, they will be filled with neutralized material from the pad and covered with fertile soil. • Plant and Workshops: all installations will be removed from its foundations and disposed as fill in the solution ponds. • Land restoration: all areas will be levelled and filled, then covered with fertile soil and reforested. Implementation of reforestation activities in the impacted surfaces through terraces, infiltration ditches, considering local vegetation. The reclamation plan activities are estimated to cost P$160,000. 49
Page 1 and 2:
TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE EL CASTILLO
Page 3 and 4:
SUMMARY Introduction At the request
Page 5 and 6:
Castillo Remaining Mineral Resource
Page 7 and 8: Undiluted Reserves at $550 per Ounc
Page 9 and 10: epresent an incremental increase in
Page 11 and 12: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION
Page 13 and 14: Table 4. Driving distances from Dur
Page 15 and 16: Castle Gold has accepted that the q
Page 17 and 18: 2.0 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION, LOCATION,
Page 19 and 20: Figure 2. Map showing mining conces
Page 21 and 22: 2.1.2.3 Property Taxes The property
Page 23 and 24: Table 5. Maximum precipitation in a
Page 25 and 26: 3.0 HISTORY The El Castillo Project
Page 27 and 28: commonly reach elevations of 2,500
Page 29 and 30: Figure 4. Cross-section through the
Page 31 and 32: At El Castillo, the presence of cha
Page 33 and 34: Toward the center of the mineralize
Page 35 and 36: 7.0 EXPLORATION In 2006, Castle Gol
Page 37 and 38: 9.0 SAMPLING METHOD AND APPROACH Th
Page 39 and 40: 11.0 DATA VERIFICATION 11.1 INTRODU
Page 41 and 42: Morgain Minerals Inc. El Cairo Gold
Page 43 and 44: 13.0 MINERAL PROCESSING AND METALLU
Page 45 and 46: Table 9. Castle Gold test heap leac
Page 47 and 48: material is relatively consistent a
Page 49 and 50: Plate 6. View of the El Castillo si
Page 51 and 52: 14.2.1 Methods A shift of -500,000
Page 53 and 54: 14.2.4 Pit Optimization Parameters
Page 55 and 56: Undiluted Reserves at $600 per Ounc
Page 57: Table 13. Comparison of Howe 2003 a
Page 61 and 62: 16.2.1 Capital and Operating Cost E
Page 63 and 64: Table 15. Operating Cost Summary (U
Page 65 and 66: will be operating the mine indirect
Page 67: Table 17. Sensitivity Analysis - Gr
Page 70 and 71: 16.2.2 Economic Evaluation The Base
Page 72 and 73: Table 23. US$ - Mexican Peso Exchan
Page 74 and 75: • Castle Gold should complete geo
Page 76 and 77: Panteleyev, A., 1996, Epithermal Au
Page 78 and 79: 9. To the best of my knowledge, inf
Page 80 and 81: CERTIFICATE OF AUTHOR dated July 31
Page 82 and 83: Appendix A Pit Optimization Level P
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43-101 2008 Technical Report On The La Fortuna Project, Durango ...

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