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Altamira Gold hires experienced mine operator to oversee construction at Cajueiro project

Published: 14:45 18 Jun 2020 BST

Altamira Gold Corp. -
The Cajueiro project in Brazil has indicated resources of 185,000 ounces of gold at 1.02 grams per ton

Altamira Gold Corp (CVE:ALTA) (OTCPINK:EQTRF) (FSE:T6UP) told investors it has hired experienced mine operator Edgar Barrios as its senior mining consultant to manage the construction of the Cajueiro gold mine in Brazil and a 1000 tonnes per day (t/d) processing plant.

"Edgar brings a wealth of knowledge and extensive experience on small and large scale gold operations in South America," Altamira CEO Michael Bennett said in a statement.

"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."

READ: Altamira Gold sells Crepori gold asset to Brazilian producer as it looks to advance Cajueiro project to production

The Cajueiro project has indicated resources of 185,000 ounces of gold at 1.02 grams per ton (g/t) and 515,000 ounces in inferred at 1.26 g/t of the precious metal.

Project management work and engineering and design work is now underway under Barrios' leadership and construction of the plant is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2020, the company said.

The firm is collecting four additional bulk samples of oxide ore from the project which will be sent for metallurgical assessment to ensure that the plant design is optimized for maximum gold recovery. It has also applied to CELPA, the owners of the powerline which crosses the central resource area of the project, to draw power from the existing transmission line and install a 1.5 MV substation.

Barrios has more than three decades' experience in the construction and management of various gold mining operations.

Most recently, he worked for Montebelo SRL as general operations manager at the La Lupa gold mine in Bolivia which includes an operating underground mine and a 1000 t/d gold gravity processing plant.

From 2017 to 2019 he was the general manager and operations manager of Eaglecrest Exploration Bolivia S.A, responsible for an operating underground gold mine and 150t/d gold gravity processing plant.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company also announced that an initial payment of US$1 million which was required following the precious metals purchase agreement struck in April between the company and Metalstream has been rescheduled from June 23 until July 14 this year.

Earlier this month, Altamira revealed it had sold its Crepori gold project in Para state to a small-scale Brazilian gold miner for C$500,000 as it continues to transition to a junior gold producer from an explorer.  Altamira retains a 4% net smelter royalty (NSR) following the start of production.

The disposal was part of a recent strategic review of Altamira's assets, after which the group decided to focus all its efforts on its projects within the Alta Floresta Belt in northern Mato Grosso, most particularly the Cajueiro project towards production in late 2021.

Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com

Mines & Money: Altamira Gold

Michael Bennett, Altamira Gold chief executive and president, joins Katie at the exhibition centre at the Mines and Money conference in London. The gold explorer and developer discusses its projects within western central Brazil.

on 5/5/22