Lundin Gold owns the Fruta del Norte gold project in southeast Ecuador, while Fruta del Norte is among the largest and highest-grade gold projects in the world
Lundin Gold to resume Fruta Del Norte operations. (Credit: DarkWorkX from Pixabay.)
Lundin Gold Inc. (“Lundin Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX: LUG, Nasdaq Stockholm: LUG) is pleased to announce that its first phases for restart of operations at Fruta del Norte (“Fruta del Norte” or the “Mine”) are well underway. The Company has shipped all of the concentrate and doré that had been stored at site since the suspension of operations on March 22, 2020. In addition, reagents, spare parts and other supplies, that had been accumulating at the port of Guayaquil are being transported to site. PDF Version.
On May 15, 2020, Ecuador’s national government issued COVID-19 protocols that set out health and safety guidelines for the mining industry in order to enable operations to restart. In addition, the government established logistics corridors that facilitate transportation for the mining industry.
“The reestablishment of transportation corridors was an important first step in our plan to restart operations at the Mine,” said Ron Hochstein, President and CEO of Lundin Gold. “We are in the last stages of finalizing the restart of our operations, which is expected to occur early in the third quarter of this year.”
In addition to moving supplies, the other important phase is moving personnel back to site. The Company has instituted a strict protocol for personnel movement, which includes a seven-day quarantine period followed by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test. Provided the results are negative, the employee or contractor will be allowed to enter Fruta del Norte. Our initiatives include increasing the lengths of work rotations in order to reduce the number of rotations, implementing regular health controls, social and physical distancing, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) when distancing is not possible, disinfection of work areas and requiring the timely communication of symptoms.
While operations have been suspended, workers at site have been carrying out several projects and maintenance work in preparation for the restart of operations. The SAG mill was relined, maintenance of underground dewatering equipment took place and infrastructure and mill modifications to improve mill recoveries were implemented. In addition, with the opening of the logistics corridors, the work of the South Ventilation Raise has begun. The Company expects to release further details regarding the start of production within the next few weeks.
Source: Company Press Release