Overview
Stage | Construction |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
|
Production Start | ...  |
Mine Life | 12.5 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
Following the announcement of $150m ATO Phase 2 Expansion financing in July 2023, Steppe Gold is now pleased to announce that initial drawdowns have commenced, with major work streams now starting across the expansion project. Funds are being drawn from the first tranche of $50m provided by the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia with an initial drawdown of approximately $10m.
ATO Phase 2 Expansion will increase ATO Mine production three times to over 100,000 ounces per annum for 12 years and produce over 1.2 million ounces of gold equivalent on a recovered basis. |
Latest News | Steppe Gold Provides Corporate Update - over 100,000 Oz Gold Production October 23, 2023 |
Source:
p. 8
Steppe Gold Ltd. are owner ATO gold mine.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Epithermal
- Breccia pipe / Stockwork
Summary:
The geology of the property consists of metamorphosed Devonian sedimentary rock overlain by a volcanic and sedimentary sequence of Permian age and remnant scraps of probable Jurassic volcaniclastic units, intruded by Jurassic plutons ranging from diorite to granite in composition and including rhyolitic phases mainly as dikes. Petrographic study suggests simple, single-pulse injections of the intrusions, with late-stage generation/expulsion of felsic phases and contemporaneous concentration of metal-rich fluids.
Mineralization at ATO is probably related to the Jurassic intrusive magmatic rocks as sources of heat, metals, and fluids. The main ATO system is associated with a stratigraphic unit that appears to be localized in a graben or collapse feature that is possibly but not certainly Jurassic in age; any stratigraphy could potentially be prospective for this style of mineralisation. The ATO mineralisation appears to have occurred as a protracted single-stage process in separately upward-flaring pipe-shaped bodies, with temperatures ranging from ~300-350°C at depth to possibly ambient temperature in surficial sinter.
Metal zonation: In a broad sense, metal zoning shows a clear, classic pattern of intrusion-centred copper (plus or minus molybdenum, tungsten, gold, and other elements) outward to country-rock hosted lead, zinc, and silver (plus or minus gold, arsenic, antimony, mercury, and other elements). It is presumed that this lateral zonation also oc ........

Summary:
The mining method selected for the Project is a conventional open pit operation with rigid body mining trucks, hydraulic excavators, and wheel loaders. The Project consists of two (2) separated mining areas: the ATO and the Mungu Pits. Only open pit mining is considered in this Report; however, the Mungu Pit is open at depth and only a small portion can be mined economically. Therefore, there is an opportunity for the Mungu Pit to be expanded to an underground mine once the open pit reserves are depleted.
The oxide ore will be transported by truck from the pit to the leach pad, and the transition and fresh ore will be transported by truck to either a stockpile or the mill. Waste material will be deposited in waste stockpiles. Ore sent to the mill is a combination of transition and fresh material; however, there is no need for a particular blend of these ores. Marginal ore (above the marginal COG, but below the mining COG) will be mined and processed throughout the LOM to supplement leach pad and mill feeds. The mine will operate year-round, seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours a day (two 12-hour shifts). 35 days of downtime are considered due to weather delays as well as holidays, for a total of 330 operating days a year.
The mine plan was based on a production rate of 1.2 Mtpa of oxide ore at the leach pad and 2.20 Mtpa of transition and fresh ore at the mill. Mine planning was performed using Hexagon MinePlan Schedule Optimiser (MPSO) module ........

Source:

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Flow Sheet:
Summary:

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Projected Production:
Commodity | Product | Units | Avg. Annual | LOM |
Lead
|
Concentrate
|
kt
| | 184 |
Zinc
|
Concentrate
|
kt
| | ......  |
Pyrite
|
Concentrate
|
kt
| | ......  |
Gold Equivalent
|
Metal in concentrate
|
koz
| ......  | |
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Annual ore mining rate
| ......  |
Annual processing capacity
| ......  |
Tonnes processed, LOM
| ......  |
* According to 2021 study.
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Reserves at July 27, 2022:
The mineral reserve within the 2022 reserve pit shell was based on a AuEq cut-off grade of 0.43 g/t AuEq for Fresh material and 0.40 g/t AuEq for Oxide material.
Mineral Resource Estimate cut-offs: Oxide 0.15 g/t AuEq, Transitional 0.40 g/t AuEq, Fresh 0.40 g/t AuEq.
The open pit mineral reserves are estimated using a cut-off grade of 0.42 g/t AuEq for oxide material and 0.45 g/t AuEq for transition and fresh material.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Proven & Probable
|
29,130 kt
|
Gold
|
1.3 g/t
|
1,063 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
29,130 kt
|
Silver
|
12.43 g/t
|
11,677 koz
|
Proven & Probable
|
29,130 kt
|
Lead
|
0.4 %
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
29,130 kt
|
Zinc
|
0.69 %
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
29,130 kt
|
Gold Equivalent
|
1.78 g/t
|
1,676 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
38 Mt
|
Gold
|
1.03 g/t
|
1,255 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
38 Mt
|
Silver
|
15.58 g/t
|
19,042 koz
|
Measured & Indicated
|
38 Mt
|
Lead
|
0.37 %
|
|
Measured & Indicated
|
38 Mt
|
Zinc
|
0.68 %
|
|
Measured & Indicated
|
38 Mt
|
Gold Equivalent
|
1.68 g/t
|
2,052 koz
|
Inferred
|
5.4 Mt
|
Gold
|
0.62 g/t
|
108 koz
|
Inferred
|
5.4 Mt
|
Silver
|
15.39 g/t
|
2,655 koz
|
Inferred
|
5.4 Mt
|
Lead
|
0.25 %
|
|
Inferred
|
5.4 Mt
|
Zinc
|
0.52 %
|
|
Inferred
|
5.4 Mt
|
Gold Equivalent
|
1.16 g/t
|
200 koz
|
Source:

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