Argentina’s Don Nicolás gold-silver project goes into production

Valentina Ruiz Leotaud | December 11, 2017 | 6:48 pm Precious Metals Latin America Gold Silver

Reference image. Argentinian auriferous material. Photo by rodoluca, Wikimedia Commons.

As of today, Minera Don Nicolas starts production at its gold-silver project in the Macizo del Deseado, located in the southern Argentinian province of Santa Cruz.

Local firm Compañía Inversora de Minas (Ciminas) put down an initial investment of $250 million with the hope of transforming this project into a world-class mine. Reserves at the site’s two major deposits, Las Palomas and Martinetas, are said to be of 469,000 ounces of gold and 718,000 ounces of silver.

Besides having all the environmental permits in place, Ciminas is striving to build a workforce mostly comprised of workers from the surrounding towns of Fitz Roy and Jaramillo. The kickstart of operations is expected to create 210 direct jobs and 150 indirect jobs.

Don Nicolas is a conventional open pit, carbon-in-leach gold project that was bought by Ciminas back in 2014 from Latin American gold mining company Minera IRL Limited (AIM:MIRL)(BVLAC:MIRL)(TSX:IRL). Initial work at the site dates back to 2009.