Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/638235
f e b r u a r y / m a r c h 2 0 1 6 www.resourceworld.com 39 Eldorado is a leading low cost gold producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkey, China, Greece, Romania and Brazil. TSX: ELD | NYSE: EGO eldoradogold.com The Company's success to date is based on a low cost strategy, a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, and long-term partnerships with the communities where it operates. tpd, expected to produce 4 to 5 million oz silver annually. The final environmental permit required for the potential construc- tion and operation of El Gallo Silver was received in January 2014. The company is taking advantage of the market down turn to avail itself of the good deals available on used equipment and have made a few purchases. A new mill will be built for El Gallo Silver which is 5 km from the El Gallo Mine. The first feasi- bility study for El Gallo Silver was done at $25.00 oz silver and the project is econom- ical at $17.00 oz silver. I asked McEwen why silver prices remained low in the face of record demand from mints and a reduc- tion in scrap silver combined with flat mine production. McEwen suggested that the price of silver might be repressed by ETFs and silver streaming companies. He said that companies are selling their profits to streamers who can afford to sell again for less. He added that there aren't many primary producers of silver, most silver is a by-product; companies tend to sell their silver by-products at a bargain. McEwen said the company is doing a new feasibility study for El Gallo Silver which he expects to be completed in the first half of 2016. McEwen Mining's Gold Bar Project in Nevada will commence construction to build the mine once permitting from the BLM is received in January 2017. McEwen said he expects the mine to be a pretty quick build – 10 to 12 months. It will cost McEwen Mining $60 million to produce 65,000 oz gold per year. It is a simple run- of-mine, oxide ore deposit at 1.1 g/t gold. An October 2015 feasibility study envi- sions a heap leach operation with an all in cost of $850.00 per oz. On December 7, 2015 McEwen Mining reported that it had filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report Gold Bar Project Feasibility Study on SEDAR. McEwen Mining has no pressures on its balance sheet with no debt and $32 million in the treasury; they are not in a rush to sell projects or hurry them into produc- tion. McEwen said the company had, just that week, had their share buyback plan approved. Their goal is to buy back and retire 15,000,000 shares of the 300,000,000 shares currently outstanding. The company pays a semi-annual divi- dend, which McEwen says is really better described as tax free capital redistribu- tion. He himself takes no salary or bonuses and owns 25% of the company. McEwen Mining's stated goal is to "qualify for inclusion in the S&P 500 index by creat- ing a high growth gold-silver producer focused in the Americas." Early January, McEwen Mining announced the appointment of Colin Sutherland as its President. Colin has 20 years of financial and operational expe- rience and will be responsible for the financial and operational performance of the company. Rob McEwen will remain the Chairman and CEO. Sutherland most recently served as CEO and Managing Director of Archipelago Resources Plc, which operates a large producing gold mine in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. n