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Work completed on Brisas property
Approximately $100 million has been expended (includes costs capitalized and costs expensed in the period incurred) on the Brisas Project since 1992. These costs include property and mineral rights, acquisition costs, equipment expenditures, litigation settlement costs and exploration costs. Considerable work has taken place to establish the mineral resource and proven and probable reserves. Work activities on the property include: · Extensive geology, geophysics and geochemistry · 834 exploration drill holes · 208,000 meters of drilling · Independent audits of exploration drilling, sampling, assaying procedures and ore reserves methodology · Environmental baseline work/socioeconomic studies · Hydrology studies · Geotechnical studies · Mine planning · Advanced stage grinding and metallurgical testwork · Tailings dam designs · Milling process flow sheet designs · Preliminary feasibility study updated in 2000 · Submittal and approval of operating plan based on the feasibility study for the Brisas Project by the MIBAM · Bankable feasibility study completed in 2005 · Extraction of a 700 tonne bulk sample from an underground shaft for large scale metallurgical testing · Prepared and submitted Venezuelan ESIA for permit in August 2005 and prepared International ESIA in 2006 for adherence to Equator Principles · Prepared a NI 43-101 technical report in October 2006 which included updated operating costs, capital costs, and mine reserve estimate · Awarded SNC-Lavalin the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract in February 2006. Detailed engineering and procurement services are over 55% complete · Approval by the MinAmb of the Environmental & Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and issuance of the permit for the commencement of the construction phase for the project . Construction will commence in mid-2007
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