Resource World Magazine

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 www.resourceworld.com 51 EQUINOX GOLD planning production at two gold mines by Laura Barker, P. Eng. EQUINOX GOLD CORP. [EQX-TSXV, EQXGF-OTC], led by financier Ross Beaty, was created in December 2017 from a three-way merger between Trek Mining, NewCastle Gold and Anfield Gold, and is on its way to becoming a mid-tier gold producer with its Aurizona and Castle Mountain gold mine assets. According to President and Director Greg Smith, "There have been about seven companies that have amalgamated in the last two years… that ultimately form Equinox Gold today. It has been an active time, and a rapid pace to get to this point, but in the course of doing these mergers, selling some assets, and spinning out cop - per (assets) we have ended up with a nice, gold focused company…Our plan is to build a multi-mine, gold focused precious metals mining company, and we want to do it quickly." Equinox intends on doing that by tak - ing both their Aurizona (Brazil) and Castle Mountain (California) gold mines into pro- duction before 2020. The assets combined form a total of 4.5 Moz of gold in reserve, and the potential for 400,000 oz per year. In August 2018, they spun off their cop- per assets (Warintza, Ricardo and La Verde projects) to form Solaris Copper, currently not publicly listed, but their number one priority is the Aurizona Mine. Located in the northeastern state of Maranhao, Brazil, with paved access roads, production at the Aurizona Mine is estimated as 140,000 ounces per year for seven years, at an all-in sustaining cost of US $754/oz (based on the 2017 feasibility study). Construction and mining activities are underway, with ore stockpiling initi - ated in July. According to Smith, "We will have a million tonnes of ore stockpiled and available for commissioning (and the first gold pour) by the end of 2018." The Aurizona gold mine was first opened and operated by Luna Gold between 2010 and 2015, and produced 330,000 ounces of gold before being put into care and main - tenance in 2015, largely due to falling gold prices. (Luna Gold was one of the merger companies to form Equinox Gold.) Equinox is currently upgrading the processing plant to enable it to handle a greater variety of mill feeds (a challenge faced by the original operation). With respect to the projected mine life, Smith comments, "We have a lot of (gold) ounces in resources that we expect to convert to reserve. Aurizona has district scale potential…from a long term explo - ration potential, it looks like it will be a long(er) mine life." In order to prove this, exploration is a priority at Aurizona. Equinox is focused on expanding the structurally controlled Piaba open pit area, with resource updates expected before the end of year. Tatajuba is the most exciting target identified so far, indicating mineralization extending for 5 km along strike to the west of the Piaba pit, with comparable grades to the pit area. "It looks like a mirror at Piaba… We are at early stages, but this is (one place) where we have the potential to double the current mine life." Exploration is also tar - geting underground potential. Castle Mountain, located in the Hart Mining District in California by the Nevada border, 1.5 hours' drive south of Las Vegas, is the second priority for Equinox. The mine was operated by Viceroy Gold Corp. starting in 1991, with extractive tech - niques used until 2001, and heap leaching until 2004 before being fully reclaimed in 2011. Equinox acquired the property with its acquisition of NewCastle Gold (which had acquired the project in 2012), and established a Preliminary Feasibility study in 2018. With an updated, reduced cut-off grade, they have outlined 3.6 Moz reserve, and 4.3 Moz resource, with an all-in sus - taining cost of US $763/oz. Phase 1 will involve heap leach of stockpiled material (45,000 oz/year for three years), and Phase 2 will see the addition of milling higher grade ore (200,000 oz/year until life-of- mine, estimated at 16 years). Two of the key original operating per - mits are still in good standing, facilitating Equinox's plan to take the project from PFS to production in two years, by 2020. Phase 2 of the project will require amend- ments to permits to accommodate a change in the disturbance area. According to Smith, "The plan is to con- tinue to acquire gold assets and develop our existing portfolio to get to that first 300,000 ounces, then 500,000 ounces, and ultimately keep growing from there." n Equinox Gold's Aurizona gold mine in Brazil. Photo courtesy Equinox Gold Corp. MINING

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