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Kışladağ is a low-grade, bulk-tonnage, open pit operation that uses heap leaching for gold recovery. Kışladağ is located in Usak Province in western Turkey and is the largest gold mine in the country.
1. Kışladağ Minerals Reserves (effective September 30, 2020)
Notes: CIM Definition Standards (2014) were used for reporting the Mineral Reserves. Mineral Reserves are estimated based on the following assumptions: metal prices of $1,300/oz Au; cut-off of 0.18 g/t recoverable Au (equivalent to a NSR cut-off of $7.30/t); recovery is variable throughout the block model with average life of mine metallurgical recovery being 56% for all ore; and no dilution and mining recovery of 100% (both already accounted for in the resource block model). The Mineral Reserve is derived from the Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources. The block model supporting these resources has not changed since March 2018 (other than depletion). The Mineral Reserve estimation is constrained by the December 31, 2019 topo surface.
Kışladağ is expected to mine and place on leach over 11 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.69 grams per tonne. Subsequent to the commissioning of the HPGR circuit in the third quarter, recoveries are expected to improve substantially in the second half of 2021 with average recoveries at approximately 50% for the year.
Forecast 2021 sustaining capital of $18 to $23 million is primarily for work related to the cover liner, ADR columns and equipment overhauls. Growth capital of $90 to $95 million is expected to consist primarily of the HPGR project, waste stripping and construction of the North Leach Pad. A portion of the expenditure on the HPGR project has shifted from 2020 to 2021; however, the HPGR circuit is expected to be fully operational on schedule by the end of the third quarter. Phase 1 of the North Leach Pad facility is expected to be ready for stacking by the end of the third quarter.
Kışladağ is a porphyry gold deposit that formed beneath a coeval Miocene volcanic complex in Western Anatolia, Turkey. At least four latite intrusive phases are recognized in the deposit. Alteration consists of a potassic core with K-feldspar, biotite, quartz and locally magnetite, outwardly overprinted by illite, kaolinite, quartz, and tourmaline. Remnants of a quartz-alunite lithocap are found near surface. Gold mineralization occurs within zones of quartz-pyrite stockwork and disseminations. Oxidation extends to a depth of 20 to 80 metres but there is no supergene enrichment. The mineralized intrusions at Kışladağ are enclosed within volcanic and volcaniclastic strata that overlie basement schist and gneiss of the Menderes Massif Core Complex. These strata dip outward from the deposit core, and display rapid facies changes from massive lavas and coarse poorly stratified units proximal to the porphyry centre, to finer well-stratified volcaniclastic strata that interfinger with lacustrine sedimentary rocks in surrounding sedimentary basins.
The Kışladağ deposit was an original discovery made by Eldorado in the late 1990's during a regional grassroots exploration program.