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Kişladağ mine

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 Summary
 
LOCATION Uşak, Turkey
PROPERTY SIZE 157 km²
RESERVES (in ounces Au)
Proven + Probable 6,816,000 @ 0.97 g/t
RESOURCES (in ounces Au)
Measured + Indicated
Inferred
10,273,000 @ 0.78 g/t
2,950,000 @ 0.50 g/t
PRODUCTION (in ounces Au)
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010 Forecast
2011 Forecast
70,895
135,306
190,334
237,210
255,000 to 265,000
270,000 to 280,000
CASH OPERATING COST (per ounce Au)
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010 Forecast
2011 Forecast
$206
$189
$254
$280
$300-$310
$300-$320
OWNERSHIP 100% (through Eldorado’s wholly owned Turkish subsidiary Tüprag Metal Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret - "Tüprag")
PROJECT STATUS AND HISTORY
  • Operating mine.
  • Implementing expansion project during 2010
  • Commercial production began in Q3 2006
  • First gold poured in Q2 2006
  • Construction Permit received in Q3 2004
  • Environmental Positive Certificate received in Q2 2003
  • Feasibility Study completed in Q1 2003

Description


The Kişladağ gold mine is the largest gold mine in Turkey. We advanced Kişladağ from an exploration discovery through development to construction and production. Kişladağ is a low grade, bulk tonnage open pit operation using heap leaching for gold recovery. The mine operates at a total ore throughput of 10 million tonnes per year. We are implementing the expansion project that will increase production to 12 million tonnes per year commencing in 2011. Capital expenditure for the project is budgeted at $40 million.

In Q1 2010, we produced 82,240 ounces of gold at a cash operating cost of $305 per ounce, a quarterly record for gold production at Kişladağ. The increased production resulted from improvements to the processing circuit with the introduction of intermediate leaching and larger carbon columns.

Kişladağ Mine Site


Resources and Reserves


As of December 31, 2009

GOLD

Mineral Reserves     Mineral Resources
Project Tonnes
(x1000)
Grade
(Au g/t)
In-situ
Gold ounces
(x1000)
    Tonnes
(x1000)
Grade
(Au g/t)
In-situ
Gold ounces
(x1000)
Kisladag                
Proven 68,230 1.05 2,312   Measured 82,904 0.93 2,490
Probable 149,240 0.94 4,504   Indicated 329,345 0.74 7,783
Proven+Probable 217,470 0.97 6,816   M+I 412,249 0.78 10,273
          Inferred 182,083 0.50 2,950



Files


Kişladağ Gold Mine Technical Report (PDF)
Kişladağ Project Feasibility Study Cost Update Executive Summary (PDF)
Kişladağ Project Feasibility Study (PDF)



Last update: May 20, 2010.
 
 Location
 Location Map

Kişladağ mine is located 180 kilometres east of Izmir and 350 kilometres southwest of Ankara, in Uşak Province. The city of Uşak with a population of 170,000 is the closest large population centre, located 35 kilometers to the northeast. Access to the site is via all-weather paved roads serving several small villages in the immediate area.

Kişladağ sits on the western edge of the Anatolian Plateau, in gentle rolling topography, at an elevation of approximately 1,000 meters. The climate is arid with hot summers and cold winters. Economic activity in the area consists of a mixture of subsistence farming and grazing.

Last update: April 7, 2010.
 
 Geology & Mineralization
 Kişladağ lies within one of several mid- to late-Tertiary volcanic complexes in western Turkey, related to subduction along the Hellenic Trench southwest of Turkey. In the KiÃ...ŸladaÃ"Ÿ region, the volcanic complexes erupted onto a basement of schist at the northeast margin of the Menderes Massif.

Porphyry-style gold mineralization is hosted by a number of latitic intrusive bodies. The Gökgöz Tepe alteration zone, which encloses the Kişladağ deposit, covers approximately 12 square kilometers. Intensely-altered coarsely porphyritic latite is host to the bulk of the gold mineralization. The ore body forms an annular zone around a later weakly mineralized stock of similar composition. Gold is associated with multiple phases of tourmaline-pyrite, pyrite, and quartz-pyrite veins and breccias, and is accompanied by small amounts of base metals, principally zinc and molybdenum. Oxidation in the deposit is shallow over the barren intrusion but extends to depths of 40 to 50 meters to the west and east.





Last update: April 7, 2010.
 
 Mining & Processing
 Initial mining at Kişladağ was carried out by a local contractor using conventional earth-moving equipment. An owner-operated fleet of 150 tonne haul trucks and equivalent loading equipment was brought into operation in Q3 2008. Average ore production is 10 million tonnes per year, with an additional 8,500,000 tonnes of waste moved annually. We are implementing the expansion project during 2010 that will increase production to 12 million tonnes per year commencing in 2011.

A three-stage crushing system using a gyratory crusher and four cone crushers reduces the run-of-mine ore to 80% passing 6.3 mm in size for leaching. Conveyors are used to transfer and distribute the material onto the leach pad in 10 meter lifts for leaching. A conventional carbon adsorption facility (ADR plant) is used to recover the gold from process solutions to a final gold dore product.

Kişladağ cash costs have been impacted by increases in price of fuel, reagents, consumables as well as a slight decline in the ore grade and increase in the waste stripping. The overall effects have however been partially offset by process efficiency improvements.



Last update: May 20, 2010
 
 Kişladağ Exploration
 To take full advantage of the Kişladağ mine's processing facilities, we continue to look for new opportunities in the area surrounding the mine.

In 2009 we increased Kişladağ's proven and probable gold reserves to 6.8 million ounces and increased measured and indicated gold resources to 10.3 million ounces.

This increase is mostly due to the positive results of the 2009 drill program (13 holes totalling 9,509 meters). The results extended both the higher grade gold zone and the extent of known gold mineralization relative to the limits outlined in 2008.

During 2010, Eldorado has completed over 20,000 meters of drilling at the Kişladağ mine. Results of this drilling include:

- Delineation of new contiguous high-grade gold zones within Intrusion 2A, in areas of the deposit that were originally modelled to contain low gold grades and waste sub-zones;

- Further definition of the southeast margin high-grade zone, discovered in 2009 and announced in the Q1 2010 exploration summary. This steeply-dipping zone has now been traced over an east-west strike extent of approximately 300 meters, and lies just outside the boundary of the design pit;

- Identification of high-grade zones along the Intrusion 3 - Intrusion 1 contact in the northwest deposit area. New drilling has reduced the extent of the late- to post- mineral Intrusion 3, providing a net increase in the volume of strongly mineralized Intrusion 1.

Drilling at Kişladağ is ongoing, and is now testing western extensions to the deposit and downdip projections of the southeast margin mineralized zone.

Kişladağ Section Showing New Mineralized Zones, Southern Area (Click to enlarge)



Kişladağ Plan (Click to enlarge)




Last update: June 28, 2010
 
 Related News
 
June 17, 2010  Eldorado Exploration Programs Update
May 06, 2010  Q1, 2010 Financial and Operating Results
March 18, 2010  2009 Year End Financial Results Gold sales up 29 percent; Cash Flow $0.38 per share; Earnings $0.26 per share
January 28, 2010  Operating Outlook 2010 - 2011
 
 
 
 Kisladag Gallery
 

Photo Gallery

Click on the picture to enlarge
May 2010 - Open pit
May 2010 - Open pit
May 2010 - Mining operations
May 2010 - Coarse ore stock pile
May 2010 - Ore screening area
May 2010 - ADR plant
December 2008 - Kisladag stacking system
December 2008 - Kisladag at night
December 2008 - Kisladag mine panoramic
December 2008 - Kisladag heap leach pad
December 2008 - Kisladag stacking system
October 2008 - Kisladag mining fleet
December 2008 - Kisladag open pit
March 6, 2008 Kisladag Up & Running Back Hoe Loading 150 Ton Truck
March 6, 2008 Truck Dumping into Primary Crusher
Kisladag Mine Crushing and Screening Plant August 2006
Kisladag Mine with Second Line of Crushers March, 2007
Kisladag Mine
Kisladag Leach Pad Stacking System
Kisladag Gold Mine Official Opening Ceremonies
Dignitaries and Company Officials at the controls to officially open the mine with a blast
Kisladag Gold Mine Official Opening Ceremonies
Dignitaries and Company Officials at the controls to officially open the mine with a blast
Kisladag Gold Bar
Watching Gold Pour
First Gold from Kisladag Mine
Mehmet Yilmaz, Public Relations Manager with first gold from Kisladag Mine
Open Pit Pre-production Mining
Open Pit Contract Mining
Crushing Screening Plant
Fine Ore Loadout
Overland Conveyor Feed End
Overland Tripper Conveyor
Gold Recovery Plant
Leach Pad under Irrigation
Solution Ponds and Gold Recovery Plant
Kisladag Mine
Leach Pad
Industrial Resources
ADR Plant
Pit
Leach Pad
Industrial Area Crushing Screening Plants
ADR Plant
Open Pit
ADR Plant
Leach Pad
Crushing Screening Plant Site
Administration Offices
Open Pit
Administration Office
Plant Site
ADR Plant Site
Over Liner
Leach Pad
Leach Pad Construction
Crusher Foundation
Leach Pad Construction
Kisladag ADR Plant Foundation
Turkey Kisladag Exploration - Cross Section
Successful Gold Pour
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