Overview
| Stage | Permitting |
| Mine Type | Open Pit |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
|
| Mine Life | 13 years (as of Jan 1, 2019) |
Underperformance of the project and higher operating costs led to the mine being closed and placed on care and maintenance on November 14, 1997.
In September 2019, Vista Gold Corp. announced the positive results of an updated preliminary feasibility study for Mt Todd and subsequently amended this study in September 2020 to correct and/or clarify certain items (the “2019 PFS”). In February 2022, Vista Gold Corp. published Feasibility Study for the Mt Todd Gold Project.
All major operating and environmental permits have now been approved.
Vista Gold’s 11 tonnes per year Mt Todd in the Northern Territory is expected to restart in the March quarter 2024. |
Source:
p. 31
Vista Gold Corp. holds Mt Todd through its wholly-owned subsidiary Vista Gold Australia Pty. Ltd.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Orogenic
- Vein / narrow vein
- Intrusion related
Summary:
The Batman and Quigleys gold deposits of the Mt Todd Mine are formed by hydrothermal activity, concomitant with retrograde contact metamorphism and associated deformation, during cooling and crystallization of the Tennysons Leucogranite and early in D2.
The deposits are similar to other gold deposits of the porphyry copper gold (PCG) and are classified as orogenic gold deposits in the subdivision of thermal aureole gold style. The Batman deposit shares some characteristics with intrusion-related gold systems, especially in terms of the association of gold with bismuth and reduced ore mineralogies. This makes the deposit unique in the PCG.
The geology of the Batman deposit consists of a sequence of hornfelsed interbedded greywackes, and shales with minor thin beds of felsic tuff. Bedding is striking consistently at 325°, dipping at 40° to 60° to the southwest. Minor lamprophyre dykes trending north-south pinch and swell, cross cutting the bedding.
Northerly trending quartz sulfide veins and joints striking at 0° to 20°, dipping to the east at 60° are the major location for mineralization in the Batman deposit. The veins are 1 millimeter (mm) to 100 mm in thickness with an average thickness of around 8 mm to 10 mm. The veins consist of dominantly quartz with sulfides on the margins. The veining occurs in sheets with up to 20 veins per horizontal m. These sheet veins are the main source of mineralization in the Batman deposit.
A varie ........
Summary:
The Project is designed to be a conventional, owner-operated, large open-pit mining operation that will use large-scale mining equipment in a drill/blast/load/haul operation
The truck and shovel method provides reasonable cost benefits and selectivity for this type of deposit. Only open-pit mining methods are considered for mining at Mt Todd.
Open pit ore totals 208 Mt grading 0.84 g/t and contains 5.6 Moz of gold. Open pit production will have a 2.5:1 strip ratio over the 13-year LoM. Upon completion of conventional mining, the existing heap leach pad will be processed.
Source:
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Projected Production:
| Commodity | Units | Daily |
|
Gold
|
koz
| ...... |
All production numbers are expressed as metal in doré.
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Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | |
|
Daily ore mining rate
| 50,000 t * |
|
Daily processing capacity
| 50,000 t * |
|
Annual processing capacity
| 17.8 Mt * |
|
Stripping / waste ratio
| 2.52 * |
|
Waste tonnes, LOM
| 522,990 kt * |
|
Ore tonnes mined, LOM
| 207,687 kt * |
|
Total tonnes mined, LOM
| 730,677 kt * |
|
Tonnes processed, LOM
| 200,273 kt * |
* According to 2019 study.
Reserves at September 10, 2019:
Batman and Quigleys resources are quoted at a 0.40g-Au/t cut-off grade. Heap Leach resources are the average grade of the heap, no cut-off applied.
Batman deposit reserves are reported using a 0.40 g-Au/t cutoff grade.
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
|
Proven
|
72,672 kt
|
Gold
|
0.88 g/t
|
2,057 koz
|
|
Probable
|
148,369 kt
|
Gold
|
0.79 g/t
|
3,791 koz
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
221,041 kt
|
Gold
|
0.82 g/t
|
5,848 koz
|
|
Measured
|
78,319 kt
|
Gold
|
0.88 g/t
|
2,213 koz
|
|
Indicated
|
220,767 kt
|
Gold
|
0.8 g/t
|
5,661 koz
|
|
Measured & Indicated
|
299,086 kt
|
Gold
|
0.82 g/t
|
7,874 koz
|
|
Inferred
|
65,304 kt
|
Gold
|
0.77 g/t
|
1,608 koz
|
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