Mining Intelligence and News
Colombia

Soto Norte Project

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Overview

Mine TypeUnderground
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Longitudinal stoping
  • Avoca
Backfill type ... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotSoto Norte Project is a large-scale feasibility stage underground gold project undergoing permitting and licensing.

New Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) application is scheduled to be submitted to ANLA during H2 2023, and then complete the licensing process during 2024.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Aris Mining Corp. (operator) 20 % Indirect
Mubadala Investment Company 80 % Indirect
The Aris Mining Corp. is also the operator and 20% owner of the Soto Norte Project in Colombia, with an option to increase its ownership to 51%. Mubadala will retain a 49% interest.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Porphyry
  • Epithermal
  • Vein / narrow vein
  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork

Summary:

The Soto Norte mineral deposit is classified as a high-sulphidation epithermal deposit, with gold, silver and copper occurrences, mainly in sulphides. The deposit is related to the Miocene porphyry stocks and dikes that have been identified in the area, cross cutting the older sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Mineralisation Mineralisation within the Soto Norte Project comprises parallel anastomosing veins which occupy the composite fault system. These veins have various widths and characteristics depending upon the open spaces provided by the fault movements, which occurred over time, as evidenced by multiple mineralised events recorded within the individual vein structures and host rocks. Veins at Mascota exhibit open-space filling textures along the Mascota related structures, indicating low overburden stress consistent with a shallow crustal emplacement typical of epithermal vein systems. Brecciation is apparently of a hydrothermal origin (angular fragments, commonly monolithic, locally with jigsaw textures and, typically fragment-supported, dominantly cemented by hydrothermal minerals) and is observed in most mineralised zones, with the common feature that the brecciated fragments consist of local wall rock. The mineralisation has a variety of textures of cement fill that are characteristic of an epithermal environment, with colloform bands of quartz and colloform pyrite that indicate super saturation in a relatively low temperature environment. Veining in the El Gigante structure is mostly characterised by more compact, less vuggy and often banded textures. It is also characterised by more heavily altered wallrock and clay content consistent with the veining following the La Baja Fault and where post-mineralisation fault movement has probably taken place. Overall, the veins cover a strike extent of 2.6 km and have been drilled to a depth of approximately 800 m below the surface. The width of the veins is variable dependent on the major and minor structures, but also pinch and swell within individual structures. On average the ranges are between 1 – 30 m width. The mineralised structures extend to the surface and are open at depth and along strike, with high exploration potential to target the deep structures from underground drilling stations. Mineralogy Gold and occasional electrum are observed in core and under the microscope as having a strong relationship with fine, crystalline pyrite (not the coarser crystalline pyrite) and occurs either free with the gold, adhering to pyrite particles or encapsulated within the pyrite crystalline lattice. Copper sulphides appear to have a partial affinity for pyrite but have much less of an association with gold than the pyrite because of its more irregular distribution. Gold also occasionally occurs within telluride minerals like calaverite and petzite, which are rarely visibly identifiable, although their possible presence is reflected in the sporadic distribution of tellurium assays. There is also a perceived relationship with quartz. Several mineralising events which introduce quartz, each time the quartz is introduced, become darker in colour (grading from white to dark grey). The fine crystalline pyrite has an association with this, either encapsulated within the darker quartz or emplaced within the darker quartz. Silver occurs occasionally as native silver in the shallower SW end of the explored mineralisation in the El Cuatro zone and, more frequently, as silver sulphosalts, pyrargyrite and proustite. Copper occurs principally as enargite and to a lesser extent as bornite, chalcopyrite, primary chalcocite and tetrahedrite-tennantite. Chalcopyrite is seen as being enriched on a local scale to bornite, covellite, secondary chalcocite and finally to native copper. Arsenic (a penalty element) is principally associated with enargite. It is rarely seen as arsenopyrite but may be attributable to the presence of tennantite. Zinc (a potential penalty element) occurs as red to black sphalerite or wurtzite and occurs associated with the distribution of lead, principally occurring as hinsdalite and occasionally as bournonite and possibly boulangerite. Antimony (a potential penalty element) occurs occasionally as jamesonite and tetrahedrite and on a very small scale in bournonite and boulangerite. Bismuth (a potential penalty element) occurs as a trace element within the deposits and may be related to bismuthinite or tellurobismuthite. Tungsten occurs mainly as hubnerite and occasionally as ferberite. Hubnerite occurs as very fine, bright red transparent needles in quartz, is seen throughout the Mascota vein and is one of the indicators that mineralisation continues to the SW towards California. The near surface to surface oxidation zone, which has an irregular depth and penetrates much deeper around major fractures and faults, is dominated by the reduction of sulphide minerals (being mainly pyrite) to haematite and goethite and limonite. Copper sulphides in the transition zone in old workings are seen commonly reduced to chalcanthite.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Production

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Gold Metal in concentrate koz 4,570
Gold Metal in copper conc. koz 2,214
Gold Metal in pyrite concentrate koz 2,360
Gold Payable metal koz 4504,348
Silver Metal in concentrate koz 24,330
Silver Metal in pyrite concentrate koz 12,066
Silver Metal in copper conc. koz 12,263
Copper Concentrate kt 230
Copper Metal in pyrite concentrate M lbs 19
Copper Metal in copper conc. M lbs 76
Pyrite Concentrate kt 1,990

Operational metrics

Metrics
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Waste tonnes, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2021 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
C1 cash costs Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Copper USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Silver USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Gold USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2021 study / presentation.
** Net of By-Product.

Operating Costs

Currency2021
UG mining costs ($/t milled) USD 28 *  
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2021 study.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
UG OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 307
G&A costs $M USD 85
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
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Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
EBITDA (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 0% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 5% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 12% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 0% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 5% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 12% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, % $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 4, 2023
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Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2021

Aerial view:

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