2008-07-23 08:00:00
Definitive Feasibility Study Demonstrates Certej Project Viability
WHITEHORSE, YT, July 23 /EMWNews/ - European Goldfields Limited (AIM: EGU / TSX: EGU) ("European Goldfields" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of the definitive feasibility study for its Certej project in Romania. The study has been prepared by European Goldfields using International and Romanian expert consultants in key areas. A Canadian National Instrument 43-101 report summarising the study will be filed on SEDAR within the next 45 days. Commenting on the study David Reading, Chief Executive Officer of European Goldfields said: "The conclusions of this definitive feasibility study underpin Certej as a key component of our portfolio that will contribute significantly to achieving mid tier gold production. The study represents another important milestone in the development and permitting of our projects in Southeast Europe."
Study Result Highlights ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reserves ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tonnes 32.8Mt ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Grade 2.0 g/t ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver Grade 11.4 g/t ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Strip Ratio 3.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Annual Throughput 3Mt ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Gold Recovery 81% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Silver Recovery 74% ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Base Life of Mine 11.2 years ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Production Years 1-3 Life of mine ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average gold production, oz pa 172,000 156,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Average silver production, oz pa 720,000 814,000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Capital (euro) million (euro) million ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Initial Sustaining ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining Fleet 19.0 7.4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pre-strip 8.5 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plant 91.5 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Infrastructure 11.0 2.9 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TMF 6.5 14.4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rehabilitation 6.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 136.5 31.2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash Operating Cost (euro) per tonne US$/oz(x) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mining 1.23 (mined) 111 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Processing (inc TMF) 10.53 (processed) 234 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- G & A 0.36 (processed) 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 353 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (x) Net of silver by product credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gold Price ($/oz) 650 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silver Price ($/oz) 12 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post tax IRR 20.3% ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scope The Certej definitive feasibility study is based on conventional open pit mining of the Certej gold/silver project, processing of 3Mt of ore a year with production of dore on site and tailings storage in an adjacent facility. Project Location and History Certej is an epithermal gold/silver deposit located in the "Golden Quadrilateral" area of the Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania in Western Romania, 12km from the regional town of Deva. European Goldfields owns 80% of the project through its subsidiary Deva Gold. There is an existing open pit that was operated by the Romanian State mining entity Minvest, until 2006 for which Deva Gold holds a valid operating permit. Study Contributors The definitive feasibility study was carried out by European Goldfields and its subsidiary Deva Gold in collaboration with the following international consultants:
- Geology - Deva Gold with review by RSG Global, now part of Coffey Mining - Resources and Reserves - RSG Global, now part of Coffey Mining - Mine Planning and Scheduling - In Silico Mining - Metallurgical Testwork - SGS-Minerals Services, HRL Testing, Xstrata Technology, Amtel - Process Route - Aker Solutions (formerly Aker Kvaerner Engineering Services), Core Resources, Xstrata Technology - Plant Design - Aker Solutions, Xstrata Technology - TMF Design - University of Bucharest, Cepromin and Golder Associates United Kingdom - Environmental - Consortium of internationally recognised Romanian institutes and consultants led by the Faculty of Environmental Science in Cluj Reserves The Certej orebody is well defined based on an extensive drilling and exploration programme which defines a Measured and Indicated Resource comprising 41.5 Mt of ore with grades of 2.0 g/t Au & 11 g/t Ag at a 0.8 g/t Au cut-off. The main mineralised zone is some 1,500 meters long by 500 meters wide and occurs as sub-horizontal, to moderately dipping zones. The mineable reserve is included in the resource and comprises 32.8 million tonnes of ore grading 2.0 g/t gold and 11.4 g/t silver, representing 2.1 million ounces of gold and 12.0 million ounces of silver mined by conventional open pit methods with a strip ratio of 3.1:1. Mine Planning and Scheduling The study is based on owner operated mining of 3 million tonnes of ore per annum over at least eleven years by a conventional open pit, drill/blast and shovel/truck method. The mining will extend the existing open pit at Certej and the mine will eventually comprise a main pit and a west pit.
Processing The run of mine ("ROM") ore will be processed in three distinct stages: - Flotation of ROM material to produce a pyrite, gold-silver concentrate - Ultra fine grinding and ambient pressure leaching of the concentrate using Xstrata's Albion process, to liberate the gold and silver - A standard CIL circuit to process the oxidised concentrate and produce gold and silver dore on site Annual metal production will average approximately 160,000 ounces of gold and 800,000 ounces of silver. The process route is based on extensive metallurgical sampling and testwork, including a full programme of locked cycle flotation tests, large scale laboratory Albion Process tests, two continuous pilot scale runs of the Albion Process and a continuous CIL pilot plant test. Material for the testwork was obtained from diamond drill core and was representative of the entire mineable reserve. Tailings management The proposed TMF is located in a valley roughly 1.5 kilometres to the northeast of the mine site. The flotation tailings, comprising approximately 80% of the total tailings, will be stored in the main dam. The CIL tailings will be held in a separate dam located immediately upstream of the flotation dam and will re-circulate water back to the CIL plant. The Company also has a second option for the TMF located closer to the mine. This second option has sufficient capacity to store life of mine tailings and a study is being undertaken to define the engineering design and establish the expenditure for this alternative. The costs of the first option have been incorporated into the capital estimate. A waste management plan has been incorporated in the recently submitted Environmental Impact Study. Infrastructure The area has experienced a substantial economic revival in the past four years with major investments from international and local corporations. It is served by good infrastructure with 110kV power supply and water pipelines arriving within two kilometres of the mine. The project has paved roads directly to site and the region has a large road-building programme to improve these further. The Certej project also benefits from two rail loading facilities at the major rail-head at Deva. Deva is connected to the main Black Sea port of Constantia by the Romanian highway and rail network and is serviced by three international airports, all within two hours drive of the project. The project will employ over 300 people from the Certej area, whose recent mining history ensures a good skills base is available in the local labour force. Environment There are no settlements in the vicinity of the proposed mine and TMF sites. Detailed field work has established that there are no archaeological remains on the site. Both the mine site and the TMFs are shielded by topography and there is no visual impact on settlements. All the necessary studies to comply with Romanian and EU legislation and international best practice have been completed. Capital Costs Capital costs comprise the estimates produced by each contributing consulting group. Aker Solutions made a series of recommendations regarding plant optimisation which were subsequently actioned by Deva Gold. The current capital cost estimate for the plant incorporates the following optimisation measures:
- Improved site layout following geotechnical investigations - Competitive up to date quotations for equipment - Use of local construction rates based on local quotes - Use of Romanian contractors - Other in country cost opportunities Additional opportunities are being investigated, but have not yet been incorporated, into the cost estimate, including:
- Use of second hand grinding mills, - Use of waste rock for the new highway project in the district that will reduce waste rock disposal quantities and costs - Increasing the project life to 15 years through the processing of existing dump material and lower grade material that falls within the current pit design and would be economic above a gold price of $700. Financial returns The financial returns achieved by the project show that it is robust at metal prices of $650 per ounce for gold and $12 per ounce for silver and the IRR exceeds the company threshold of 20%. The internal rate of return includes taxation of 16% and the deduction of a 2% royalty on gross revenues. In addition, project finance has been assumed on the basis of a conservative 50:50 debt: equity ratio. Progress on Permitting The permitting process is now well advanced and Deva Gold has already submitted a Technical Feasibility Study, an Environmental Impact Study and a Zonal Urbanisation Plan (PUZ) to the relevant Romanian authorities. Deva Gold already holds an operating permit for Certej, by virtue of the small scale production and sale of concentrates carried out from an existing open pit. The EIS and the Technical Feasibility Study address a proposed increase in mine production at Certej and the processing of ore on site. The environmental permit and an updated mining permit are expected in Q4 2008 following completion of the public consultation process. Deva Gold has advanced the planning procedures for the Zonal Urbanisation Plan approval including two public meetings with the affected local communities. The regional Environmental Department from Timisoara has received an official letter from the local Council of Certej giving its full support to the project, recognising the sustainable development and benefits the project brings to the local economy. The Way Forward The definitive feasibility study demonstrates that Deva Gold has developed an efficient and viable solution for mining and processing the Certej deposit to produce gold/silver dore. This solution has been based on extensive testwork and the flow sheet comprises well established unit operations. The studies undertaken also demonstrate that the project is technically sound. The acquisition of land needed to build the project is underway. Following receipt of the necessary Environmental and Construction permits the Company will work toward raising the necessary project finance. The project will then progress to detailed engineering, procurement and construction.
About European Goldfields
European Goldfields Limited is a resource company involved in the
acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Greece,
Romania and South-East Europe.
Greece - European Goldfields holds a 95% interest in Hellas Gold S.A.
Hellas Gold owns three major gold and base metal deposits in Northern
Greece. The deposits are the polymetallic operation at Stratoni, the
Olympias project which contains gold, zinc, lead and silver, and the
Skouries copper/gold porphyry project. Hellas Gold commenced production at
Stratoni in September 2005 and commenced selling an existing stockpile of
gold concentrates from Olympias in July 2006. Hellas Gold is applying for
permits to develop the Skouries and Olympias projects.
Romania - European Goldfields owns 80% of the Certej gold/silver
project in Romania. The Company submitted in March 2007 a technical
feasibility study to the Romanian government in support of a permit
application to develop the project. In March 2008, European Goldfields
submitted the Environmental Impact Study to the Romanian environmental
authorities to start the assessment of the environmental impact of the
Certej Project.
Resources & reserves parameters
For additional information on the resource and reserve estimates quoted
in this news release, please refer to the Company's Resources & Reserves
Declaration at http://www.egoldfields.com/goldfields/resources.jsp. Patrick
Forward, General Manager, Exploration of the Company, was the Qualified
Person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 responsible for reviewing
the disclosure of resource and reserve estimates quoted in this news
release.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements and information contained in this document,
including any information as to the Company's future financial or operating
performance and other statements that express management's expectations or
estimates of future performance, constitute forward-looking information
under provisions of Canadian provincial securities laws. When used in this
document, the words "anticipate", "expect", "will", "intend", "estimate",
"forecast", "planned" and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral reserves and
resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs and
timing of development of new deposits, permitting time lines and
expectations regarding metal recovery rates. Forward-looking statements are
necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while
considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant
business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The
Company cautions the reader that such forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual financial results, performance or achievements of the Company to be
materially different from its estimated future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements and
the forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.
These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited
to: changes in the price of gold, base metals or certain other commodities
(such as fuel and electricity) and currencies; uncertainty of mineral
reserves, resources, grades and recovery estimates; uncertainty of future
production, capital expenditures and other costs; currency fluctuations;
financing and additional capital requirements; the successful and timely
permitting of the Company's Skouries, Olympias and Certej projects;
legislative, political, social or economic developments in the
jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business; operating or
technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities;
the speculative nature of gold and base metals exploration and development,
including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; the
risks normally involved in the exploration, development and mining
business; and risks associated with internal control over financial
reporting. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and material
factors or assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements, see the
Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended 31 December 2007,
filed on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com. The Company does not intend, and does not
assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except
as required by law.
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