Altamira Gold Hires Experienced Mine Operator to Manage Construction of Processing Plant at Cajueiro Gold Project
Vancouver, June 18, 2020 - Altamira Gold Corp.'s (TSXV: ALTA) (FSE: T6UP) (OTC Pink: EQTRF) ("Altamira" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Edgar Barrios as senior mining consultant and provide an update on progress regarding the development of the Cajueiro Gold Project located in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Highlights:
- Altamira has hired Edgar Barrios to manage the construction of the mine and 1000t/d processing plant at the Cajueiro gold project in Brazil. Mr. Barrios has extensive experience in the construction and management of similar operations throughout South America
- The Company is collecting four additional bulk samples from Cajueiro for metallurgical testing which will be sent to laboratories in Brazil and Australia
- An application has been made to CELPA, owners of the powerline within the Cajueiro Project, to draw power from the existing transmission line and install a 1.5 MV sub station
- As a result of Covid-19 related issues, the initial payment of US$1M required pursuant to the April 24, 2020 Precious Metals Purchase Agreement between the Company and Metalstream has been rescheduled from 23th June until 14th July 2020
Michael Bennett, President and CEO stated, "We are very excited to have Mr. Barrios join our team. Edgar brings a wealth of knowledge and extensive experience on small and large scale gold operations in South America. Not only has he held senior operating roles at larger companies, he is a metallurgist by training and has hands on experience in designing and installing carbon-in-leach circuits and operating plants. His technical expertise will be invaluable as we advance our Cajueiro gold project into production."
Appointment of Edgar Barrios
Mr. Edgar Barrios has over 30 years experience in the construction and management of various gold mining operations. Most recently, he has worked for Montebelo SRL as General Operations Manager in La Lupa gold mine, Bolivia which includes an operating underground mine and a 1000 t/d gold gravity processing plant. Prior to that he was Administrative General Manager of the Guapurutu gold mine, Bolivia. From 2017 to 2019 he was the General Manager & Operations manager of Eaglecrest Exploration Bolivia S.A., and responsible for an operating underground gold mine and 150t/d gold gravity processing plant. In 2015, he worked in Peru as Vice President of Standard Tolling Corp., managing the design and construction of the 350t/d gold processing plant (CIL process) in Minera La Quinua.
Previously he has served as a Director and Vice President of Empresa Minera Paititi S.A. (Bolivian subsidiary of Orvana Minerals Corp.) and has also worked as Metallurgist, Mill Superintendent and General Superintendent of several operational units of Compañía Minera del Sur from 1985 to 2001. Mr. Barrios has a degree in Metallurgy from San Austin University of Arequipa, Peru, and a MBA from UPSA University of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Additionally, he has been involved with the preparation of numerous project studies, including conceptual projects, prefeasibility, full feasibility, design, start up, commissioning operations and optimization processes in Bolivia with base metals (lead, copper, zinc, tin in flotation and gravity concentration) precious metals (gold and silver by CIL process and gravity recovery), and a sulfuric acid plant.
Cajueiro Project Update
Project management work and engineering and design work is now in progress under Mr. Barrios' leadership. Construction of the plant is scheduled to commence in H2 2020.
In addition, the Company is collecting four additional bulk samples of oxide ore from the Cajueiro project which will be sent for further metallurgical evaluation in order to ensure that the plant design is optimised for maximum gold recovery. Samples are being sent to the CSIRO lab in Australia to determine whether fine gold in the oxide ore is amenable to recovery using thiosulphate solution which would avoid the requirement for cyanidation.
An application has been made to CELPA, the owners of the powerline which crosses the central resource area of the Cajueiro Project, to draw power from the existing transmission line and install a 1.5 MV sub station.
As a result of Covid-19 related issues, the initial payment of US$1M required pursuant to the April 24, 2020 Precious Metals Purchase Agreement between the Company and Metalstream has been rescheduled from 23th June until 14th July 2020.
Cajueiro Gold Project
The Company's advanced Cajueiro project has NI 43-101 resources of 5.66Mt @ 1.02 g/t gold for a total of 185,000 oz in the Indicated Resource category and 12.66Mt @ 1.26 g/t gold for a total of 515,000oz in the Inferred Resource category.
A total of 14,000m of drilling (105 holes) and over 4,000m of trenching have been completed to date within 285ha in the central part of the 28,577ha claim package (or 1% of the Cajueiro project area). Numerous other gold-in-soil anomalies remain untested.
A production decision at Cajueiro is not based on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and as a result there is increased uncertainty and there are multiple technical and economic risks of failure which are associated with this production decision. These risks, among others, include areas that are analyzed in more detail in a feasibility study, such as applying economic analysis to resources and reserves, more detailed metallurgy and a number of specialized studies in areas such as mining and recovery methods, market analysis, and environmental and community impacts. In accordance with NI 43-101 and the companion policy to that instrument, Altamira cannot provide any guidance either in terms of anticipated gold production or net cash flows.
Increasing Altamira Gold's Profile
The Company wishes to announce that it has retained Proactive Investors LLC ("Proactive Investors") to assist in creating video content and news articles on the Company's developments. Proactive Investors is a financial news and events organization with bureaus in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. The agreement has an annual cost of C$18,000 and a 12-month term. Proactive Investors have no present interest, direct or indirect, in Altamira or its securities.
Qualified Person
Guillermo Hughes, P. Geo., a consultant to the Company as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
About Altamira Gold Corp.
The Company is focused on the exploration and development of gold projects within western central Brazil. The Company holds 9 projects comprising approximately 280,000 hectares, within the prolific Juruena gold belt which historically produced an estimated 7 to 10Moz of placer gold. The Company's advanced Cajueiro project has NI 43-101 resources of 5.66Mt @ 1.02 g/t gold for a total of 185,000 oz in the Indicated Resource category and 12.66Mt @ 1.26 g/t gold for a total of 515,000oz in the Inferred Resource category.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
"Michael Bennett"
Michael Bennett
President & CEO
Tel: 604.676.5660
Toll-Free: 1-833-606-6271
info@altamiragold.com
www.altamiragold.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.
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