El Castillo is an Owner-operated mine using conventional equipment and conventional mining methods.
The El Castillo mine is a relatively low-grade gold deposit that benefits from a low strip ratio and disseminated mineralization that is amenable to bulk mining activities and good heap leach recoveries. The operation is situated in a semi-arid environment surrounded by moderate topography.
There are three mine phases remaining in the LOM plan:
• The Phase 10.2 design is approximately 300 m long by 100 m wide with 36 m depth. Total Mineral Reserves contained in this phase are 1.1 Mt at an average grade of 0.25 g/t Au with a strip ratio of 0.21;
• The Phase LB design is approximately 700 m long by 250 m wide with 170 m depth. Phase LB contains 3.8 Mt of Mineral Reserves grading 0.27 g/t Au and a strip ratio of 1.39;
• The Phase WP design is approximately 700 m long by 400 m wide with 150 m remaining depth. Phase WP contains 6.6 Mt of Mineral Reserves grading 0.44 g/t Au with a strip ratio of 0.61.
The mining method consists of traditional drill-and-blast operations followed by excavator loading of rigid-body haul trucks for ore transport to the crusher and waste transportation to designated WRSF locations.
Pit Design
Pit designs include a ramp width of 25 m (truck factor of 3.5), which can safely support Cat 777 (or equivalent) sized mining trucks. One-way access of 15 m was applied at the pit bottom after strippin ........
