March 30 (SeeNews) - Canada's Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) said on Tuesday that it extended the life of its Chelopech mine in Bulgaria and updated the mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates for the project.
"Proven and probable mineral reserves of 1.7 million ounces of gold and 344.4 million pounds of copper supports an optimised mine life that extends to 2029 as well as the company’s previously issued three-year outlook for Chelopech," DPM said in a statement.
The updated life of mine plan adds some 228,000 ounces of gold production and 43 million pounds of copper production between 2021 and 2029, relative to the previous mine plan, until 2027, according to DPM.
The mine successfully added 3.9 million tonnes to its mineral reserves, which more than offset 2020 production depletion of 2.2 million tonnes for a net addition of 1.7 million tonnes, marking an increase of 10% in tonnage and an increase in metal content of 5% for gold, 13% for silver and 3% for copper.
Measured and indicated mineral resources, exclusive of mineral reserves, increased 22%, representing a 3.2 million tonnes net increase in tonnage and an increase in metal content of 12% for gold and 6% for copper, further adding to the potential to extend mine life, if such mineral resources are converted to mineral reserves.
In line with the DPM’s 2021 guidance, exploration spending is expected to be $13 million (11.1 million euro) to $15 million, of which about half has been allocated to support the exploration programme at Chelopech, the company said.
The mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates for DPM’s other mine in Bulgaria, Ada Tepe, and the Timok gold project in Serbia remain unchanged.
In January, DPM said that it achieved a record gold output of 298,300 ounces in 2020, as its two gold mines in Bulgaria met or exceeded their guidance for the year.
($ = 0.852350 euro)