The Project is situated along the northern boundary of the Carajás-Iricoumé Block of the Eastern Amazonian Craton which contains the west-northwest trending Três Palmeiras Greenstone Belt. It comprises Upper Proterozoic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks.

The volcanic, sedimentary and syntectonic rocks of the Project have been affected by a wide spread hydrothermal alteration events. Surficial alteration is present in an extensive layer of red saprolite, which covers the entire property, including topographic highs and lows.

Primary gold mineralization is associated with altered diorite within a 300 m wide alteration zone, which straddles the contact zone between the intrusive and the metasedimentary rock. Gold occurs in a stack of mineralized zones ranging in size from strike trends over 1 km long, depths from surface to approximately 400 m with true thicknesses up to 50 m. The dip of the mineralized zones is generally moderate to steep (50o to 85o ) to the south.

Mineralization in the Ouro Verde area extends for approximately 1,100 m along an approximate north west to south-east strike and extends to a vertical depth of 540 m below surface. Mineralization in the Grota Seca area extends for approximately 2,900 m along a west to north westerly trend and extends to a vertical depth of 400 m below surface.

The open pit mine includes two separate pits - Ouro Verde and Grota Seca. They are designed to be mined with proven technology and equipment.

The saprolite overlain on the deposits requires no drilling and blasting. This saprolite has more of a sandy texture than clay. Mining of this material will be with the front end loaders initially. As the shovels are erected, they will be tasked with mining the lower portion of the saprolite near the weathered contact where underfoot conditions will be more stable.

Suspended dump bodies have been included in the specification and costing of the haulage trucks. The suspended dump bodies are designed to reduce carry back of the saprolite material and also increased life from increased abrasion resistance with their rubber beds hauling the rock, both waste and ore.

The rock beneath the saprolite will be drilled with 200 mm down the hole (DTH) drills with a 10 m bench. Benches will be prepared with the track dozers and rubber tired dozer. The drill will then drill on the pattern size as specified by engineering for either waste or ore. That determination will be made based on the results of the grade control drilling completed with the RC drills. The grade control drilling will be in ahead of the bench mining to allow up to 18 months of advance information on the contacts.

The flow sheet has been designed with an initial start-up capacity of 3.5 Mt/a (Phase 1) and an expansion in Year 3 to 7 Mt/a (Phase 2). The following steps are included in the flow sheet:

- Primary jaw crushing of run-of-mine (ROM) ore;

- Coarse ore stockpiling to provide buffer capacity ahead of the grinding circuit;

- Single stage semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) milling circuit with trommel screen and cyclones producing P80 75 µm;

- Space and design allowance for a pebble crushing circuit when throughput is increased in Phase 2;

- Space and design allowance for secondary ball milling to be added in Phase 2;

- Space and design allowance for gravity recovery of coarse gold from a portion of the hydro-cyclone (cyclone) feed stream using semi-batch centrifugal gravity equipment in Phase 2;

- Intensive cyanidation of the gravity concentrate and electrowinning of the pregnant leach solution in the elution circuit electrowinning cells when the gravity circuit is installed in Phase 2;

- Thickening of cyclone overflow prior to leaching; In Phase 2, it is proposed to pass the thickener feed through dewatering cyclones to reduce the duty on the installed thickener. This concept requires further development.

- Cyanide leaching and carbon in pulp (CIP);

- Acid washing of activated carbon and Anglo American Research Laboratories (AARL) type elution. In Phase 1, both acid washing and elution processes will take place in the same column;

- Addition of a separate acid wash column in Phase 2;

- Addition of a carbon regeneration kiln in Phase 2;

- Electrowinning of gold from pregnant solution onto stainless steel cathodes with subsequent drying and smelting of sludge in a smelting furnace;

- Detoxification of tailing using the SO2 / air cyanide destruction process, followed by disposal in the tailings management facility (TMF) and return of decant water to the process plant.