Stewart R. Wallace — 1919–2009 - Society of Economic Geologists

JULY 2009 No 78 SEG NEWSLETTER 45
Perama Hill low-sulfidation oxide gold
project in northern Greece. Approval of
the document by the Greek government
would lead to the submission of a full
impact assessment in 2010 and possible
final approval of the EIA in 2011. Under
this schedule, mine construction could
commence in 2011.
Production continues at the Stratoni
Pb-Zn-Ag mine in northern Greece,
operated by European Goldfields Ltd.
(EGO). The company is continuing with
an ongoing development program at
the mine and believes that the mine
exploration program will replenish
reserves mined each year. At the
Skouries porphyry Au-Cu development
project, located 35 km from Stratoni,
European Goldfields has now received
the basic engineering package for development
of the mine. Procurement of
long lead time processing equipment is
underway and various engineering and
architectural studies are moving
towards completion. Finally, at EGO’s
third project in Greece, the Olympias
massive sulfide deposit, located 8 km
from Stratoni, the company continues
to sell gold from stockpiled pyrite concentrates.
The company is working
closely with the Greek Ministry of
Environment to produce an acceptable
EIA to treat the historical tailings from
the old mine to extract the remaining
gold and to clean up the Olympias
Valley. EGO is also working with the
authorities to produce a plan to mine
the rest of the Olympias deposit.
European Goldfields is actively
exploring in northern Greece and has
identified four new zones of potential
massive sulfide mineralization near
Stratoni, Olympias, and the Piavista
massive sulfide deposit. EGO has identified
two large targets in a 17 × 8 km belt
of porphyry intrusive rocks. Porphyrystyle
mineralization has been identified
in the field, and the company plans to
drill at these targets in conjunction with
exploration work at Piavista.
IRELAND
Minco plc and JV partner Xstrata continue
to drill on the Pallas Green project,
located at the southern boundary
of the Irish Midland orefield in County
Limerick. Four drills are presently operating
in the Northeast Extension area
and in the southern extension of the
Tobermalug zinc-lead massive sulfide
deposit. Tobermalug is one of a cluster
of sulfide lenses situated in a 25-kmlong
and 2-km-wide west-northwest–
trending alteration zone.
The Galmoy mine, located in County
Kilkenny and operated by Lundin
Min ing Company, will cease mining
operations during 2Q, 2009. Lundin
reported that low zinc prices were the
main reason for closure and that operations
will wind down in an orderly fashion.
Following closure, remaining rehabilitation
of the mine site will be
completed.
Belmore Resources holds 11 exploration
licenses in County Clare in SE
Ireland. Lundin Mining recently signed
an earn-in agreement with Belmore to
operate the County Clare JV. Presently
there are three rigs active on the
Kilbricken discovery, and Belmore has
already announced a 21+ m intercept of
15.8% zinc + lead and 94.4 g/t silver.
KOSOVO
Lydian International announced that
they had completed a private placement
with the European Bank of Reconstruc -
tion and Development for approximately
C$1.6M. The funds will help
with the exploration of the Drazhnje
Zn-Pb-Ag massive sulfide prospect.
NORWAY
London-based Avocet Mining has
nearly completed a takeover bid for
Oslo-based gold explorer and mine
developer, Wega Mining ASA. Wega is
constructing the Inata gold mine in
Burkina Faso, while Avocet operates
Penjom gold mine in Malaysia and the
North Lanut gold mine in Indonesia.
POLAND
Adelaide-based Strzelecki Metals (formerly
Primary Resources) provided an
inferred resource for the Myszkow porphyry
Mo-Cu-W deposit in southern
Poland. The deposit contains 726 Mt of
0.12% Mo equivalent inferred resource,
located within a larger envelope of
1,327 Mt of 0.096% Mo-equivalent mineralization.
The deposit appears to be
one of the largest known porphyry Mo
deposits. The Polish Government originally
outlined the deposit in the 1970s
and 1980s.
PORTUGAL
Lundin Mining continues to replace
and add reserves to the Neves-Corvo
copper-zinc mine in the pyrite belt of
southern Portugal. Copper reserves were
largely replaced by infill drilling during
2008. Zinc reserve tonnage increased by
67%, largely from the Lombador South
and Neves South deposits within the
mine area. Zinc measured and indicated
resources increased by 30%, with
the majority of the mineralization coming
from the recently discovered
Lombador East deposit, which remains
open both up- and downdip. The mine
has been in operation since 1989.
ROMANIA
Gabriel Resources will raise approximately
C$100M in a public offering and
a concurrent private placement. The
funds will be used for social and development
work at Rosia Montana. The
company reports that local and
regional politicians are voicing strong
support for the project to the new coalition
government. Unemployment in the
Rosia Montana area is over 80%. Is
there a message here?
European Goldfields announced
completion of a definitive feasibility
study for the Certej Au-Ag project,
acceptance of the study by the government,
the update of mining permits,
and an extension of the potential mine
life to 16 years. Permitting is in the final
stages, and the company appears to be
working well with all stakeholders.
SLOVAKIA
As reported in the last issue of SEG
Newsletter, EMED Mining announced a
1.1 Moz resource at the Biely Vrch
deposit in the Detva gold district. What
is equally interesting is the potential for
more gold and gold-copper deposits in
the porphyry district. The Detva district
has been explored and mined intermittently
for past 1,000 years, but only
now is being explored in a systematic
manner. EMED has advanced at least
four other prospects to drilling stage, or
close to drilling stage.
SPAIN
Inmet Mining resumed mining operations
and copper production at the Las
Cruces VMS copper deposit, located near
Seville at the eastern end of the Iberian
pyrite belt. Mining had been suspended
due to regulatory concerns over use of
water in the mine. The Water Authority
of Andalucia is now in the process of
amending the water permit for the mine.
Iberian Minerals completed an
underwritten financing of C$40M. The
funds will be used to complete construction
of the Aguas Tenidas copper-zinc
mine. The VMS deposit is located in the
central part, northernmost limb of the
Spanish portion of the Iberian PYRITE
belt. The mine achieved start-up in both
copper and zinc circuits, but had to curtail
activity until acquisition of funding.
The mining plan for the near future is
to extract higher grade massive and
stockwork copper ore, and explore and
delineate easily accessible
copper-bearing stock-
to page
work material.
46 ...
EXPLORATION REVIEWS