Jeronimo is located in northern Chile approximately 30 kilometres south southwest of El Salvador at an elevation of 3,800 metres above sea level.
Project Status
Exploration
Project History
In September 2006, the Company signed an agreement to acquire the 56.7% controlling interest in Agua de la Falda S.A. (“ADLF”) that includes the Jeronimo Deposit from the Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile (“Codelco”) for $20 million.
ADLF’s properties, located 50 kilometers southeast of El Salvador in the Third Region of Northern Chile, encompass over 240 km² and include the El Hueso, Coya and Agua de la Falda mines that produced over 660,000 gold ounces for Homestake Mining Company between 1988 and 2002. The Jeronimo Deposit is the downdip extension of the Agua de la Falda deposit and is estimated to contain up to 16.6 million tonnes of potential ore at a gold grade of 5.2 grams per tonne for a contained resource of at least 2.8 million ounces of gold. The ore deposit is largely unoxidized and will require further metallurgical testing to determine the proper processing techniques to liberate the gold in a production environment. There is an existing scoping study on the property and as part of the agreement, Yamana is required to prepare the feasibility study of the Jeronimo Deposit.
Highlights
- The project is subject to a joint venture with Codelco, pursuant to which Yamana holds a 57 percent interest and acts as operator.
- Metallurgical testwork including flotation, pressure oxidation and bio leaching took place throughout 2008 to accommodate the unoxidized and refractory nature of the Jeronimo mineralization.
- Jeronimo will continue to be evaluated in conjunction with Yamana’s joint venture partner.
Resources
(at December 31, 2008)
Measured and Indicated Resources
(exclusive of reserves)
1.1M tonnes at 7.97 grams/tonne gold = 284,000 ounces gold
Inferred Resources
(exclusive of reserves)
3.1M tonnes at 7.10 grams/tonne gold = 701,000 ounces gold