Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Montreal-based Maple Gold Mines has released an updated resource estimate for its Douay gold project 50 km southwest of Matagami, Quebec. According to the technical report prepared by Roscoe Postle Associates, the deposit is estimated to contain 8.6 million indicated tonnes grading 1.52 g/t gold, plus 71.2 million inferred tonnes grading 1.03 g/t gold.
The Douay project has both open pit and underground resources. The indicated pit constrained portion is 8.6 million tonnes at 1.52 g/t for 422,000 contained oz., and the inferred portion is 65.8 million tonnes at 0.97 g/t for 2.05 million oz. of gold. Underground material is all in the inferred category: 5.4 million tonnes grading 1.75 g/t gold for 307,000 contained oz.
Maple Gold says the Douay deposit has nine mineralized zones, and most of the resources are in the Douay West and Porphyry zones. There is exploration potential both below and within the pit shells and in undrilled gaps between the pit constrained blocks.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
