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Paul N. Wright, President and Chief Executive Officer of Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSX:ELD)(NYSE:EGO)(ASX:EAU) (“Eldorado” the “Company” or “we”) is pleased to announce that Eldorado, through its 100% owned subsidiary Tuprag Metal Madencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret (“Tuprag”), has received its Trial Operating Permit (“Permit”) at the Efemcukuru Gold Project in Izmir and the supplementary Environmental Impact Assessment Positive Certificate (“EIA”) at Kisladag Gold Mine in Usak.
“We are extremely pleased with the timely receipt of our Permit at Efemcukuru and approval for the supplementary EIA to increase annual throughput to 12.5 million tonnes of ore at Kisladag,” said Paul Wright President and CEO of Eldorado. “We continue to operate according to plan and look forward to start up of operations at Efemcukuru this month and expansion of the process facilities at Kisladag to treat the flotation concentrate from Efemcukuru. Our thanks to the Tuprag team who have worked diligently to achieve these two important permitting milestones.”
Efemcukuru Gold Project, Izmir Province
The Permit is the final step in the process leading to start up of operations. It is issued at the completion of construction and will allow the Company to carry out commissioning of the process facilities and to commence production of gold. The Permit is valid for a period of one year, during which time the Company will apply for the mine Operating Permit. The mine Operating Permit will then be issued when the company demonstrates compliance with the operational, safety and environmental parameters set out in the project Environmental Impact Assessment documents. Commissioning of the concentrator plant with ore from the underground mine will begin immediately, with first gold production planned prior to the end of June.
Kisladag Gold Mine, Usak Province
The Company has also received approval for the supplementary EIA for the planned expansion of the Kisladag Gold Mine. Approval of this supplementary EIA allows the company to increase annual throughput by 25% to approximately 12.5 million tonnes of ore to be processed through the heap leach facility. The approval of the supplementary EIA also covers the expansion of the process facilities on site to include a treatment plant to carry out final gold extraction from the flotation concentrate generated at the Efemcukuru Project. This plant will recover approximately seventy percent of the recoverable gold from the Efemcukuru ore, the balance being recovered through gravity concentration at the Efemcukuru plant.
The receipt of these two important milestone permitting documents is the culmination of many years of continued effort by the Company to work with the government authorities in Turkey to realize the value from the country’s considerable mineral resources.
Eldorado is a gold producing, exploration and development company actively growing businesses in Turkey, China, Brazil and Greece. With our international expertise in mining, finance and project development, together with highly skilled and dedicated staff, we believe that Eldorado is well positioned to grow in value as we create and pursue new opportunities.
Read the full news release here.
