Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/912601
10 www.resourceworld.com D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 8 and improve heap leach operations to opti- mize cyanide concentration and ultimately improve gold recoveries. All of these ini- tiatives are now well under way and we'll start to see the benefits in the next few quarters. RW: Is the Los Filos Mine now operat- ing at its maximum throughput? NW: No, we have excess capacity avail- able that could potentially be utilized for the Bermejal Underground project. Mine throughput was scaled down after Q1 2016 by Goldcorp to focus on improving gold recoveries on the heap leach pads. So far, the 2017 average daily throughput through the crushers and onto the heap leach pads has been around 13,000 tonnes per day. RW: How many tonnes of ore are you currently processing? NW: We are currently mining approxi- mately 22,000 tonnes per day of ore from the two open pits and one underground mine. Of that, about 13,000 goes through the crusher and onto the heap leach pads. The remainder is run-of-mine material that goes directly onto the heap leach pads without any processing. RW: Why are gold recoveries higher from underground ore than open pit ore? NW: Although all of the ore is oxi- dized material, the underground ore is more oxidized, which allows for greater gold recoveries compared to open pit ores. Plus, higher grade ores typically do have a higher recovery. Underground ore grades at Los Filos can be up to 10 times higher than the average grade of open pit ore. RW: Will it be possible to improve open pit gold recoveries? NW: Several initiatives are under way to improve recoveries from the open pit ores, including modifying some of the heap leaching parameters (i.e. lift heights, optimization of cyanide and pH levels) as well as improving the agglomeration of the ore. RW: How many ounces of gold will the Los Filos Mine produce this year? NW: In 2017, we expect to produce 185,000 to 200,000 ounces at Los Filos. For H2 2017, our production guidance is 95,000 to 110,000 ounces at an AISC of $875 to $925 per ounce. RW: Your Leagold brochure indicates there are both "brownfield" as well as "greenfield" exploration targets. Since the brownfield targets were already known by past operators, why weren't they fully explored and mined in the past? NW: The Los Filos Mine has been undergoing a transition from large scale open pit mining to underground min- ing. The Bermejal Underground deposit was recognized by Goldcorp as a deeper portion of the Bermejal deposit but the increasing shift to underground mining was not of interest to them. We have the opportunity to develop this deposit and leverage the existing infrastructure and processing facilities.