M3 Engineering wins EPCM contract for Camino Rojo project
Published by Stephanie Roker,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
Orla Mining Ltd. has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contract for the Camino Rojo oxide gold project located in Zacatecas State (Mexico) to M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation (M3). M3 is a full service EPCM firm headquartered in Tucson (Arizona, USA) and has provided services to over 10 000 projects for some 1000 clients in its 33 year history. Work on the Camino Rojo project will be undertaken out of the M3 office in Hermosillo (Mexico) with senior review and support from the Tucson office. M3 will be responsible for detailed engineering, construction planning and execution, contractor management and cost control for the project under the auspices of Orla management. Orla expects to begin engineering work by mid-September. The selection of M3 and commencement of any EPCM work is subject to entering into a definitive agreement with M3.
"M3 has a wealth of engineering knowledge and with its extensive experience in Mexico, it is well suited to design and build the Camino Rojo project on time and on budget," stated Jason Simpson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Orla.
"We look forward to commencing detailed engineering work by mid-September as we work with M3 to build a high quality project that begins to produce gold in mid-2021."
The Camino Rojo oxide project is a robust project with low capital intensity, rapid payback and high margins consisting of an 18 000 tpd heap-leach opencast operation. An estimated 44 million t grading 0.73 g/t Au and 14.2 g/t Ag is expected to be processed during a 6.8 year mine life. Gold production is expected to average 97 000 oz of gold per year at an estimated all-in sustaining cost of US$576/oz of gold.
Permitting
Orla has submitted the permit applications to SEMARNAT for the Manifesto de Impacto Ambiental (MIA) and the Change of Land Use (ETJ) permits at the end of August. The legislated timelines for the review of properly prepared MIA and ETJ applications and mine operating permits for a project that does not affect federally protected biospheres or ecological reserves are 120 working days and 105 working days, respectively, which can be completed concurrently.
Financing
Discussions are well underway with various lenders and financiers and Orla continues to progress according to schedule in developing the optimum structure to finance the development of the Camino Rojo oxide project.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/10092019/m3-engineering-wins-epcm-contract-for-camino-rojo-project/
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