Copler

The Copler property is located in east-central Turkey, roughly 650 km east of Ankara and 120 km southwest of the city of Erzincan.

The project under development is planned as conventional open pit gold and silver mine with both oxide mill and heap leach treatment of ores. It has an estimated 12 years mine life.

Eight mine phases, or pushbacks, were designed for all three deposits: two each in the Manganese and Marble Contact zones, and four in the Main Zone.

The mine production schedule was developed to deliver a combined total of 5,225,000 tonnes per year of mill and leach ore to the primary crusher - 14,315 tpd. The highest grade 5000 tpd of that feed - 1,825 kt/yr - will be sent to the cyanidization mill and the rest to the heap leach. A tripper is provided at the crusher station to route the material to the appropriate destination, and campaign feed of the crusher will be accomplished from the mine.

The company plans to use a mining contractor, so a precise list of mine equipment is not available. However, the mine was nominally sized for 6.5 cubic meter front end loaders and 50 tonne trucks.

Flotation concentrate from a concentrate thickener and whole ore from a direct feed grinding thickener are processed in agitated pre-acidification tanks and a pre-acidification thickener prior to slurry storage in pressure oxidation feed tanks.

Ground slurry, stored in pressure oxidation feed tanks, is pumped with high pressure positive displacement pumps into a single horizontal, six compartment autoclave. Oxygen purchased from an oxygen plant is injected into the slurry within the autoclave to oxidize sulfide minerals. The autoclave is agitated and the exiting slurry is flashed to atmospheric pressure in a single flash vessel. Slurry from the flash vessel flows into an agitated CCD feed tank. Entrained solids and sulfuric acid are scrubbed from vent gases and steam in a brick lined quench vessel followed by a venturi scrubber.

Limestone and lime are ground to slurries and stored in new grinding and slaking systems. Reagents systems for flotation reagents, flocculant, and water treatment are added to the planned reagent systems. Utility systems for cooling water, demineralized water, and high pressure steam are added.

Gold is recovered from the slurry with existing leach, CIP, and carbon recovery systems. Silver and SX-EW copper recoveries are also possible. The potential to recovery manganese as manganese carbonate, manganese sulfate or other products exists.

The modified facility will process ore at a rate of 8,000 tpd to produce 189,490 oz. gold per year at an overall recovery of 87.9 per cent.