Mining Intelligence and News
Brazil

AGA Mineracao Operation

Click for more information

Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Sub-level open stoping (SLOS)
  • Longhole open stoping
Backfill type ... Lock
Production Start... Lock
SnapshotAGA Mineração operation, situated in the state of Minas Gerais, comprises the Cuiabá and Córrego do Sítio (CdS) mining complexes.

The Cuiabá mining complex houses the Cuiabá and Lamego underground mines, and the Cuiabá and Queiroz plants. Ore from the Cuiabá and Lamego mines is processed at the Cuiabá gold plant. The concentrate produced is transported by aerial ropeway to the Queiroz plant for processing and refining. Operations at the Queiroz metallurgical plant remained suspended while additional engineering and geotechnical work at the related Calcinados TSF was completed. The suspension of waste deposition on the Calcinados TSF in the first quarter of 2023 necessitated a transition to goldin-concentrate production and the subsequent loss of an estimated 5,000oz of annual production.

Córrego do Sítio (CdS), which consists of one open- pit mine and one underground mine, was placed on care and maintenance in August 2023.
Related AssetsCorrego do Sitio Complex, Cuiaba Complex

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
AngloGold Ashanti plc. 100 % Indirect
Anglogold Ashanti Corrego Do Sítio Mineracao SA. (operator) 100 % Direct
AGA Mineração operation comprises the Cuiabá and Córrego do Sítio mining complexes.

The Cuiaba Complex and Corrego do Sitio Complex are owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti Córrego do Sítio Mineração S.A. (AGA Mineração), a company registered in Brazil. AGA Mineração through AngloGold Ashanti Holdings plc., is wholly owned by AngloGold Ashanti plc.

Deposit type

  • Orogenic
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Banded iron formation hosted
  • Metamorphic hosted
  • Hydrothermal

Summary:

Geology
Lamego
Lamego mine is located in the Iron Quadrangle, which is a geotectonic unit on the southern edge of the São Francisco Craton, comprising Archaean and Proterozoic terrains, and bordered by Neoproterozoic mobile belts. From a regional viewpoint, Lamego mine is located in the eastern extension of the Serra do Curral inverted homocline, located on the northern edge of the Iron Quadrangle.

The mine lithostratigraphy consists of an intermediate metamafic sequence of the greenstone belt type and is hosted in the Nova Lima Group, which is part of the Rio das Velhas Supergroup. This sequence is characterised by lower metabasaltic rocks at the base, overlain by Algoma-type BIF metasediments, a quartz layer (known locally as metachert), carbonaceous schist, graphite schist and a further sequence of sediments consisting of alternating metapelites and metapsammitic rocks with a volcanoclastic contribution. The upper sequence of the Rio das Velhas Supergroup is the metasedimentary Maquiné Group.

Cuiabá
Cuiabá mine is located in the Iron Quadrangle, which is a geotectonic unit on the southern edge of the São Francisco Craton, comprising Archaean and Proterozoic terrains, and bordered by Neoproterozoic mobile belts. From a regional viewpoint, Cuiabá mine is located in the eastern extension of the Serra do Curral inverted homocline, located on the northeastern edge of the Iron Quadrangle.

The mine lithostratigraphy consists of an intermediate metavolcanic sedimentary sequence of the greenstone belt type and is hosted in the Nova Lima Group at the bottom of the Rio das Velhas Supergroup. This sequence is characterised by metabasaltic rocks at the base, overlain by Algoma-type Cuiabá BIF, and carbonaceous schist. Above the metasediments is a sequence of metabasalts overlain by an alternating sequence of metapelites and metapsamitic rocks with minor volcanoclastics.

The Corrego do Sitio
The Corrego do Sitio (CdS) gold deposit is located in the eastern part of the Lower to Middle Greenschist Facies of the Rio das Velhas Archaean, in the Iron Quadrangle region, on the southern margin of the São Francisco Craton in Brazil

Deposit type
Lamego
The gold mineralisation at Lamego has features and characteristics that match the epigenetic orogenic gold deposit model presented for Archaean gold-lode deposits.

Cuiabá
Cuiabá is an Archaean BIF-hosted gold deposit that produces sulphuric acid as a processing by-product. It is characterised by hydrothermal alteration of the rocks, with the mineralisation occurring mainly in BIF layers, subordinate quartz veins or in schists. The host to the gold mineralisation in the volcanosedimentary Nova Lima Group that occurs at the base of the Rio das Velhas Supergroup. The upper sequence of the Rio das Velhas Supergroup is the metasedimentary Maquiné Group. The gold mineralisation at Cuiabá has features and characteristics that match the epigenetic orogenic gold deposit model typical of Archaean lode gold deposits.

The Corrego do Sitio
CdS is an orogenic gold deposit hosted in intensely deformed clastic, volcanoclastic, carbonaceous schists and metagreywackes in an approximately 30km northeast-southwest striking shear zone. Hydrothermal alteration phases associated with the mineralisation are dominated by sericite and carbonate.

Mineralisation style
Lamego
The gold mineralisation at Lamego is characterised by orebodies associated with two horizons of chemical sedimentary rocks: BIF and metachert, with shear zones containing abundant quartz veinlets. The proportions of these lithotypes vary substantially from one deposit to another. In the BIF, sulphide mineralisation is associated with gold, while in the metachert it is associated with quartz veins. The gold occurs either as native gold or in sulphides. Lamego has a similar rock assemblage to Cuiabá, but with higher structural complexity. The mineralised BIF is more structurally deformed and contains more silica when compared to Cuiabá, which reacted less with the hydrothermal fluid.

Cuiabá
Cuiabá mine’s gold mineralisation is associated with sulphides and quartz veins in BIF and volcanic sequences. Structural control and fluid flow are the most important factors for gold mineralisation with a common association between largescale shear zones and their associated structures. Where BIF is mineralised, the ore appears strongly stratiform due to the selective sulphidation of the iron-rich layers. Steeply plunging shear zones tend to control the ore shoots, which commonly plunge parallel to intersections between the shears and other structures. Mineralisation is hosted in the limbs of a fold system.

The Corrego do Sitio
The CdS I, II and III, gold deposits and associated targets are located in a gold trend that extends for approximately 14km in a north-easterly direction, from Grota Funda (CdS I) in the south to Anomalia (CdS III) in the north, which developed in a compressional tectonic regime. Gold is associated with quartz and fine-grained acicular arsenopyrite. The main gold targets and deposits are distributed over three trends, namely the CdS Trend and Cristina Trend hosted in metasedimentary rocks, and the Donana Trend hosted in BIF.

At CdS I, the main orebodies are Rosalino, Cachorro Bravo, Laranjeiras and Carvoaria, which constitute the current production sources and most of the Mineral Resource. At CdS II, the main orebodies are São Bento, Pinta Bem (both BIF-hosted) and Sangue de Boi (metasedimentary-hosted). At CdS III, where limited exploration has taken place, the Anomalia I orebodies are the best understood and have the highest potential, hosted in the metasedimentary and BIF sequences. The Jambeiro and Mina de Pedra targets are less drilled and less understood.

Mineralisation characteristics
Lamego
The mineralisation is characterised by sulphidation in the form of disseminated sulphide bands or as fracture fill and, more rarely, as massive sulphide hosted in BIF or metachert although sulphide bands are rare in the latter. The metachert (or quartz vein) is concentrated in the hinges of the Lamego structure and has free gold as the main mineralisation with a lesser amount associated with sulphides. The plunge of the mineralised zones coincides with both fold axes of the first two structural events and the stretching fabric.

Cuiabá
The main orebodies at Cuiabá are as follows:
- Normal limb: Fonte Grande Sul and Serrotinho;
- Overturned limb: Balancão, Galinheiro and Canta Galo.

Secondary orebodies occur in hydrothermally altered schists in the footwall of Galinheiro (Galinheiro footwall (GFW) orebody), hydrothermally altered schists/quartz veins near the footwall of Fonte Grande Sul and Serrotinho (Quartz vein orebody), and close to the hangingwall of Serrotinho (Viana orebody).

The Corrego do Sitio
The CdS deposits consist of narrow northeast to southwest elongated and folded lenses of mineralisation, parallel to the main regional deformational structure (S2), dipping 60° to 70° to the southeast and plunging 20° to 30° to the northeast. The orebodies are consistently folded, boudinaged and locally disrupted by younger structures. CdS is an orogenic type deposit comprising many hydrothermal lodes with quartz veins and low-grade sulphides, disseminated in the wall rocks. In general, the mineralisation consists of sericitic zones and quartz veinlets hosted in metapelite and BIF. The sedimentary sequence, and consequently the mineralised deposits, are cross-cut by a swarm of basic dykes of uncertain age, with a general orientation north-northeast to south-southwest dipping to the southeast, with thicknesses varying from 20cm to 20m. The gold occurs as native gold in smoky quartz veins and as microscopic or sub-microscopic inclusions in arsenopyrite (the main mineralisation style). It may also occasionally be associated with berthierite (FeSb2S4).

Reserves

Lock

- subscription is required.

Mining Methods

Lock

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

Lock

- subscription is required.

Production

CommodityProductUnits202320222021202020192018201720162015
Gold Metal in conc./ doré koz  ....  Subscribe
Gold Metal in doré koz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe362364424407421

Operational metrics

Metrics202320222021202020192018201720162015
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe3.2 Mt3 Mt3 Mt2.8 Mt2.6 Mt
Total tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe9,303 kt6,200 kt11,817 kt8,767 kt

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
Total cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 782 / oz **   723 / oz **   671 / oz **  
All-in sustaining costs (sold) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,107 / oz **   973 / oz **   1,006 / oz **  
All-in costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 1,164 / oz **   1,015 / oz **   1,055 / oz **  
** Net of By-Product.

Financials

Units2023202220212020201920182017
Sustaining costs M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 90   134  
Capital expenditures M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 91   96   136  
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 519   486   556  
Gross profit M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 102   104   109  
Operating Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 89   84   86  
EBIT M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 90   83   85  
EBITDA M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 194   186   227  

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 6, 2024

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2023
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2022
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2020
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2019
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2018
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2017
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2016
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2015
...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required ...... Subscription required 2014

Lock

- subscription is required.