Ecuador mineral exports could fall by some 20% this year, says official
Mining exports were worth $3.3 billion for Ecuador in 2023.
The Australian reports that gold producer BCD Resources has announced today that it will shut down Beaconsfield underground gold mine at the end of June 2012.
“Today’s gold price it is not viable to mine below the current depth of 1210 metres,” said BCD Resources CEO Peter Thompson. He added that below the current base of the mine, gold mineralization thins and further development is not viable.
“This has been confirmed by an independent consultant. The company will continue to review the mining plan and mine life should the gold price continue trending upwards,” he said.
According to Australian Mining the announcement comes nearly a year after the mine retrenched close to 100 workers in an attempt to make the mine profitable.
In 2006, Beaconsfield made the news with the unfortunate underground collapse that killed miner Larry Knight, and trapped Brant Webb and Todd Russell for two weeks.
Webb is publically urging BCD to axe plans for closure, reports The Age:
”I want it to go forever because if it goes forever it means people are still feeding their families, they are still making a quid out of it and they are buying houses and keeping the economy going,” he said.
Thompson said BCD Resources was assessing other production options, including treatment of a gold tailings deposit and development of the Pinafore open pit at Lefroy, 40 km from Beaconsfield.
