Çöpler Sulfides
- Ownership:
- 80% Alacer Gold, 20% Lidya Mining
- Location:
- 120km southwest of Erzincan, Turkey
- Mining:
- Open pit
- Processing:
- Crushing, Pressure Oxidation, Leaching, Refining
- Current proven & probable reserves:
-
3.5 million ounces
(as at December 2012, 80% basis)
Alacer announced results of a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") in March 2011 to assess the processing of the Çöpler sulfide ores through conventional crushing and milling leading to a pressure oxidation circuit. Highlights from the PFS include (all currency is in third quarter 2010 US dollars and all metrics relating to Çöpler are on a 100% basis):
- Gold reserves increased from 2.2 million ounces to 4.6 million ounces;
- Life of mine production increased from 1.3 million ounces to 3.7 million ounces;
- At a gold price of $1,038/ounce, the sulfide project delivers $739 million in cash flow;
- The sulfide project provides a real internal rate of return of 24.6% on a $410 million initial capital investment;
- Life-of-mine Total Cash Cost on a by-product basis of $430 per ounce; and
- Mine life increased to 16 years (oxides and sulfides).
The PFS envisages a pressure oxidation circuit recovering 2.25 million ounces of gold and 91 million pounds of copper from 33.1 million tons of sulfide ore at a planned throughput rate of 8,000 tonnes per day. Overall recoveries through the pressure oxidation circuit are estimated at 94% for gold and 75% for copper.
A copy of the PFS report was filed on SEDAR on May 11, 2011 and can be found at www.sedar.com and at the Technical Reports section of this website. The accuracy of the PFS is considered to be minus 15%, plus 25%.
In early 2013, Alacer announced a staged approach that should substantially improve Çöpler's economic returns, reduce capital intensity, and reduce implementation risk. The treatment of sulfide ore has not yet commenced and the optimal processing route is being evaluated.
