Cerro Vanguardia Mine

The Cerro Vanguardia Mine is a gold and silver mine located 150 km north west of Puerto San Julián, in the Santa Cruz province of Argentina. It is majority-owned and operated by AngloGold Ashanti, which holds a 92.5% interest in the mine . The remaining 7.5% are owned by Formicruz (Fomento Minero de Santa Cruz Sociedad del Estado), a company owned by the province of Santa Cruz.[1]

Cerro Vanguardia Mine
Location
Cerro Vanguardia Mine
Location in Argentina
LocationPuerto San Julián
ProvinceSanta Cruz
CountryArgentina
Coordinates48°23′09″S 068°15′49″W
Production
ProductsGold
Silver
ProductionGold: 208,000 oz
Silver: 2,200,000 oz
Financial year2009
History
Opened1998
Owner
CompanyAngloGold Ashanti 92.5%
Formicruz 7.5%
WebsiteAngloGold Ashanti website
Formicruz website

In 2008, the mine contributed 3% to the company's annual production and employs in excess of 1,000 people. The Cerro Vanguardia mine consists of a number of small open pits.[1]

Geologically the mine lies in Deseado Massif, an area known for its valuable gold deposits.[2]

History

The gold deposit at Cerro Vanguardia was first discovered in 1976 and, in 1987, mining group Pérez Companc S.A. formed a mineral exploration joint venture with AMSA, Anglo American’s South American holding company.[3]

AngloGold, predecessor of AngloGold Ashanti, acquired a 46.23% interest in the project in 1998–99, and an additional 46.25%, the Pérez Companc stake, in July 2002, doubling its interest to 92.5%. AngloGold Ashanti owns the right to exploit the deposit for 40 years based on the Usufruct Agreement, signed in December 1996. Cerro Vanguardia, which was constructed at a total cost of US$ 270 million, was commissioned in late 1998.[4]

The mine suffered a difficult year in 2008, when production fell by 25% while the cash cost more than doubled.[1] The company did however manage to improve production in 2009 and lower the cash cost again. In 2009, the mine was also fatality-free for the seventh consecutive year.[5]

Future mining plans at Cerro Vanguardia include an underground operation, from 2010, and a heap leach operation.[5]

Gold production

Recent production figures of the mine were:

Year Production (oz) Grade Cost per ounce
2003 [6] 226,000 7.15 g/t US$ 143
2004 [6] 229,000 7.60 g/t US$ 156
2005 [6] 228,000 7.70 g/t US$ 171
2006 [7] 232,000 7.29 g/t US$ 225
2007 [5] 220,000 6.8 g/t US$ 261
2008 [5] 166,000 5.44 g/t US$ 608
2009 [5] 208,000 6.51 g/t US$ 355
2010

References
  1. AngloGold Ashanti: Country report Argentina accessed: 14 July 2010
  2. Echavarría, Leandro E.; Shalamuk, Isidoro B.; Etcheverry, Ricardo O. (2005). "Geologic and tectonic setting of Deseado Massif epithermal deposits, Argentina, based on El Dorado-Monserrat". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 19 (4): 415–432. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2005.06.005.
  3. Cerro Vanguardia Gold and Silver Mine, Argentina mining-technology.com, accessed: 14 July 2010
  4. AngloGold annual Report 2003 AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 14 July 2010
  5. Annual Report 2009 Archived 2011-09-12 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 9 May 2010
  6. Annual Report 2005 Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010
  7. Annual Report 2006 Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine AngloGold Ashanti website, accessed: 11 July 2010
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.