Dallas, Texas 06/26/2015 (Financialstrend) – Eldorado Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:EGO) revealed its plan for the phased development of the Olympias mine. The Olympias mine is situated in Halkidiki district in northern Greece. The company owns 95% of the mine. This is a part of the Kassandra projects. The update was announced in a press release.
Eldorado Gold and Phase I
Eldorado Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:EGO) is known as a leading producer of low cost gold. It has expanded its operations of mining, exploration and development in countries like China, Turkey, Brazil and Romania. The company uses a low cost strategy along with skilled workforce to succeed in this field. It is also traded on Toronto Stock Exchange as (TSX:ELD).
In the ongoing Phase I, the pyrite tailings deposited at the tailings management facility at Olympias is reclaimed and reprocessed to obtain a gold concentrate. The company estimates phase I to complete by the end of 2015. The main decline from the Stratoni valley is under development with 1,725 meters of progress done out of the planned 8,300 meter length.
Phase II
The Phase II will convert the concentrator into lead, zinc and gold concentrates which the company plans to sell through offshore contracts. Phase II is very important for the company. Mine development of almost 13,000 meters has been completed till now. The production is expected to begin in second quarter of 2016, provided the development is done as planned. The estimated duration for Phase II is 6-8 years.
The expenditure of $83 million is estimated for concentrator upgrade in phase II. During the first four years, the company estimates production of 60,725 ounces of gold, 1 million ounce of silver, almost 12,900 tonnes of zinc, and 12,200 tonnes of lead.
This development is believed to make Olympias a main project for Eldorado Gold Corp (USA) (NYSE:EGO). Though the estimates look good on paper, the actual returns in the coming years will shade light on the success of the company.
