Mr. Christian Milau reports
EQUINOX GOLD COMMENCES STOCKPILING OF ORE AT AURIZONA GOLD MINE
Equinox Gold Corp. is providing an update on construction progress at its Aurizona gold mine in Brazil. All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars. Construction remains on budget and on schedule to pour gold by late 2018 with the expectation of producing on average 136,000 ounces of gold per year.
Construction and mining progress
Stockpiling of ore commenced on July 18.New SAG and ball mills have been delivered to site and installation is under way.Overall project is 60 per cent complete.Concrete work is 82 per cent complete.Plant construction is 51 per cent complete.EPCM (engineering, procurement and construction management) activities are 75 per cent complete.Engineering is complete.
Construction progress at Aurizona is documented in a photo gallery on Equinox Gold's website.
The SAG and ball mills have been delivered to site and installation is under way. Concrete work continues in the surge bin, reagent and thickening areas, and is 92 per cent complete in the crusher area, 93 per cent complete in the grinding area and finished in the leaching area. Structural steel erection in the grinding area is well advanced and the thickener tank platework is complete.
Preproduction mining activities commenced in mid-April and are progressing on schedule. The mining contractor has removed more than 986,000 tonnes of waste to date and roadwork is well advanced. Stockpiling of ore to prepare for commissioning of the plant commenced on July 18, 2018.
The $146-million project budget remains fully financed. As at June 30, 2018, the company had spent $64-million of the project budget. The remaining $82-million of project spend will be financed by a combination of: (i) cash on hand at June 30, 2018, of $65-million; (ii) $30-million of project debt draws (the company drew $40-million of project debt from the $85-million facility during Q2 2018 and $15-million in Q4 2017); and (iii) receivables as at June 30, 2018, totalling over $12-million.
About Equinox Gold Corp.
Equinox Gold is a Canadian mining company with a multimillion-ounce gold resource base, near-term and growing gold production from two past-producing mines in Brazil and California, and a diverse portfolio of gold and copper assets in North and South America. Construction is under way at the company's Aurizona gold mine in Brazil with the objective of pouring gold by year-end 2018, and the company is advancing its Castle Mountain gold mine in California with the objective of commissioning phase 1 operations by the end of 2019.
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