Posted on August 10, 2021
The new gold production plant of Mineros S. A.
With this inauguration, the company expects to produce another 9,000 ounces a year. Investments were close to $57mm.
4/8/2021
Large-scale industrial exploitation of gold continues to advance in 2021. Colombian gold miner Mineros operating in the region of the Bas Cauca announced last week during the launch event involving the deputy minister of Minas, the Secretary of Minas of Antioquia, the Secretary of the Environment and Sustainability of Antioquia and the mayors of El Bagre and Nechí, the launch of Aluviales, a new alluvial production plant with which it estimates to reach 9,000 ounces a year.
Mina de Muzo, Colombia
“With this unit we point to one of our strategic pillars: operational excellence. We work every day to be at the forefront of modern mining; in that sense, Llanuras Aluviales opens us way to a new gold extraction process that will enable us to achieve important production goals, contributing to the well-being of our environment, its inhabitants and the environment,” said Santiago Cardona, country manager and vice president of Mineros Colombia.
“We are very pleased to see this modern operating dredging unit, which takes care of the environment, which has new technologies and generates efficiencies. We continue to support mining which is with all the law: it meets social and environmental standards supporting with state-of-the-art technology,” he said.
What’s the plant?
The plant consists of eight small extraction blocks covering a distance of three kilometres.
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It is a suction dredge, a production dredge and a floating profit plant with easy mobility that allows extraction in areas where a spoon dredge cannot reach.
This plant, like all those used in the operation, performs a mercury-free gold extraction, for which gravimetric concentration equipment is used that separate heavy minerals (gold and black sands) through a hydraulic channel system, allowing the sedimentation of gold particles.
Aluviales plains, a new alluvial production plant with which it estimates to reach 9,000 ounces a year.
Photo: Mineros S.A.
“One of our main objectives is to continue contributing to the social and economic development of the region. This is why we have new job openings through this production unit, which add to the more than 480 direct jobs we already generate in the Lower Cauca area, providing opportunities for progress and leaving a sustainable legacy,” Cardona added.
The Government is also bringing forward some operatives in the Colombian Pacific to combat large-scale illegal gold exploitation.
Investment in large industrial gold exploitation projects contributes to improving production rates, generating quality employment and disincentive other illegal activities.
“We continue to concentrate our efforts to carry out projects like this that, with high standards of quality and innovation, will allow us to use advanced technology and continue to generate environmental friendly practices, with our strategic axes in social, economic and environmental matters, key to the development of industry and the country,” added Andrés Restrepo, president of Mineros S.A.
Aluviales plains, a new alluvial production plant with which it estimates to reach 9,000 ounces a year. Photo: Courtesía Mineros S.A.
Mineros operations are located in the subregion of the Bas Cauca in the department of Antioquia, specifically in the urban and rural areas of the municipalities of El Bagre, Zaragoza, Caucasia, Nechi and Anori. In 2020, the company recorded an alluvial production of 76,725 ounces of gold and a contribution to the country of 22,718 million pesos in royalties and taxes.
In addition, the company has been recognized with the seal of Mining in Antioquia, which recognizes them as a company with best practices in the social investments made by the mining holders in their area of influence and with the AA sustainability stamp, delivered by Corantioquia.
“Mineros is a company that works for a great purpose and fulfils it with conviction. Its work is highlighted not only under a framework of good practice for industry, but also at the social and environmental levels. This new plant, considered as unique in the region by its state-of-the-art technology, is a clear example of the diversification and evolution of the mining operations in the country,” concluded Deputy Minister of Minas, Sandra Sandoval.
