The Lavrinha Deposit which is closely linked to the Ernesto Deposit has been interpreted as gold-rich quartz veins and veinlets with coarse grained pyrite occurring along shallow-dipping structure. The main difference with Ernesto is the position of the mineralization in the metasedimentary sequence. Gold mineralization is located along quartz boudins in highly sericitized rock and plunges to the north.

The Ernesto-Lavrinha Deposits consists of gold- rich quartz veins and veinlets occurring along a relatively thick, shallow-dipping structure at the base of the metasedimentary sequence and within altered sulphidic horizons in overlying meta- arenite units. The basal structure is interpreted to be a low-angle detachment fault that has been folded and faulted together with the overlying stratigraphy. Gold mineralization is located along asymmetrical anticlines and synclines that plunge gently to the north and are cut by NW and NE- trending narrow faults. The gold mineralization occurs in three zones: Lower Trap, Middle Trap and Upper Trap.

The Upper Trap, which is widely developed in the Lavrinha Deposit, occurs in metapelitic rocks (hematite sericite schist) in dilation zones of the intensely deformed synclinal troughs. The Upper and Intermediate traps share similar alteration and mineralization suites.

The Ernesto-Lavrinha Deposits are described as detachment-style gold deposits, where typically gold mineralization is associated with low-angle to flat detachment faults, generally with a normal (extensional) sense of movement which consistently places younger units over older units.

Approximately 1.11 Mt of ore at an average grade of 1.69 g/t Au and 14.0 Mt of waste rock will be mined from the Lavrinha open pit over a 2.5 year period. The overall strip ratio for Lavrinha is 12.6:1 with mining conducted 365 days per year by a contractor. The contract is full service and includes providing all mining equipment, drilling, blasting, loading, hauling and maintenance. Total material movement rates for the LOM range from 15,000 to 25,000 tpd.

Conventional truck and hydraulic shovels will be utilized. Four excavators, supported by three front-end loaders, will load a fleet of ten 38- tonne trucks and five 25-tonne trucks. Ore will be transported to the primary crusher and run-of-mine (“ROM”) pad, and waste material will be hauled to a nearby waste rock storage facility.

The Ernesto gold processing plant is located next to the Ernesto Deposit and is designed to treat up to 1 Mtpy feed. The flowsheet is based on a low-risk proven technological configuration for processing gold bearing ore.

A primary crusher located at the front-end of the process plant. Run-of-mine (“ROM”) feed will be blended and fed through the plant’s primary screen. The screen oversize is crushed and the combined crushed feed is ground in a single-stage, closed-circuit semi-autogenous grinding (“SAG”) mill.

Approximately 25% of the SAG mill cyclone underflow feeds a gravity-gold recovery circuit. The grinding circuit product is thickened and then pumped to a leach tank that is followed by six carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) tanks in series. CIL tailings are treated in a cyanide reduction tank where cyanide is chemically decomposed. Final tailings are pumped to a tailings storage facility.

Loaded carbon, recovered from the first CIL tank, reports to the desorption area. Gold is stripped from the carbon into a solution and electroplated from solution onto stainless steel cathodes. Dried cathode sludge and flux are mixed and smelted to produce gold bullion.

Haul trucks deliver run-of-mine feed to the ROM pad. A front-end loader is used to feed the crusher feed bin, which is fitted with static grizzly bars with an aperture of 600 mm.

Crushed feed, pebbles, cyclone underflow, and gravity concentrator tailings are directed to the SAG mill feed chute. The SAG mill dimension is 5.8 m in diameter, 5.8 m long and has an installed motor power of 2.65 MW.

The trash screen bypass box normally feeds the trash screen (0.8 x 18 mm aperture), but also allows slurry to bypass this screen. Trash screen oversize is directed to the trash bunker, while trash screen undersize slurry flows to the pre-leach thickener feed box. Dilute flocculant is added to the pre-leach thickener feed box and to the thickener feed well.

The CIL feed pump discharges thickened slurry to the CIL feed distributor. The feed to the CIL circuit is 50-52% solids by weight after the addition of lime, barren eluate and the flow from the gold room sump pump. The average flow rate of the CIL feed is 176 m3 /h (260 tph). Thickener overflow flows to the pre-leach thickener overflow tank and is then pumped to the process water pond.

The CIL area includes seven tanks in series: one leach tank followed by six CIL tanks for a total residence time of 24 hours.

The CIL feed distributor box normally discharges to the leach tank, but can also discharge to the first CIL tank. Launders allow the slurry flow to bypass any of the CIL tanks. The final CIL tank discharges to the cyanide reduction feed box.

The CIL feed distributor box normally discharges to the leach tank, but can also discharge to the first CIL tank. Launders allow the slurry flow to bypass any of the CIL tanks. The final CIL tank discharges to the cyanide reduction feed box.

The acid-wash cycle starts when the acid-wash column is full of loaded carbon. Concentrated hydrochloric acid is added to raw water to a concentration of 3% (w/w) in the column. The acid wash column is then allowed to soak.

The strip solution pump draws solution from the strip solution tank and primes the elution column. Sodium hydroxide and sodium cyanide are added to the strip solution at a concentration of 3% w/w each.

During preheating, the strip solution is pumped through the recovery heat exchanger (cold side), through the primary heat exchanger (cold side), and into the elution column. Solution leaving the elution column returns directly to the strip solution tank. The LPG-fired solution heater heats thermal oil, which is pumped in a closed circuit through the primary heat exchanger (hot side) indirectly heating the strip solution.

Elution starts when preheating is complete. During elution, solution leaving the elution column passes through the recovery heat exchanger (hot side) and to one of the eluate tanks. Elution continues until six elution column bed volumes (“BV”) have reported to the eluate tank. Raw water makes up the strip solution tank level during elution. Solution heating stops for the last BV, cooling the column and the carbon.

Excess water drains from the carbon in the 1.0 mm slotted-aperture regeneration feed dewatering screen. A screw feeder withdraws carbon from the feed hopper and feeds the carbon regeneration kiln. Regenerated carbon is quenched with water in the carbon quench tank and is then pumped to the barren carbon sizing screen by the carbon transfer pump.

Pregnant eluate and ICR pregnant solution report to the eluate tanks. The eluate pumps feed electrowinning cells during electrowinning and transfer barren eluate to the CIL feed distributor box at the end of an electrowinning cycle. Electrowinning cell discharge flows to the eluate return hopper and is then pumped back to the eluate tank(s).

A plant operator uses the gold room hoist to lift loaded cathodes up over the off-line cell. The operator then uses a high-pressure cleaner to loosen and wash the cathode slimes into the cell. The slimes flow into the pan filter and filtered sludge is put into an oven to dry. Dry sludge is mixed with flux and smelted in the barring furnace about once a week. Bullion bars are cleaned, sampled, weighed, and stored in a vault. The electrowinning cell exhaust fan vents air and mist from the cells to atmosphere outside the building during the electrowinning process. The furnace exhaust fan vents air from the furnace to the outside atmosphere during smelting. The gold room has four vent fans to ensure adequate ventilation.