Cerrado Gold eyes construction at Brazil gold mine
Cerrado Gold Inc. [CERT-TSXV, CRDOF-OTCQX] has applied for a license to begin construction at its Monte do Carmo development project in Tocantins State, Brazil.
Cerrado is a Toronto-based company with a focus on gold projects in the Americas. It is the 100% owner of the producing Minera Don Nicolas mine in Santa Cruz, province, Argentina and the Monte do Carmo development project.
At Monte do Carmo, Cerrado is rapidly advancing the Serra Alta deposit through feasibility and production. The Serra Alta deposit is estimated to host an indicated resource of 541,000 ounces of contained gold and an inferred resource of 780,000 ounces.
As of September 11, 2023, Cerrado said it has filed its licence of installation (LI) application with the state environment regulatory authority for the development of Serra Alta. Subject to acceptance of the application, the company anticipates it will be granted the installation licence within three months, which will allow for construction activities to begin.
The announcement came after the close of trading on September 12, 2023, when Cerrado shares rose 10.1% or $0.06 to 65 cents on volume of 184,630. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of $1.09 and 56 cents.
Serra Alta is expected to be a high-margin and high-return project with significant exploration potential on an extensive and highly prospective 82,542=hectare land package.
A preliminary economic assessment dated July, 2021, outlined a robust economic case for development of the Serra Alta deposit. It envisaged life of mine average production of 131,000 ounces of gold annually over eight years at an all-in-sustaining cost of US$612 an ounce. The initial capital expenditure was pegged at $126 million.
Throughout the 21 concessions, Cerrado has identified an additional 30 kilometres of known mineralized trends that may hold the next Serra Alta style discovery. Several targets have been identified, all with minimal drilling to date.
“We are pleased to be making steady progress in permitting at the Serra Alta project, and expect the granting of the Li and the upcoming feasibility study to continue to support our project financing discussion,’’ said Cerrado CEO Mark Brennan.
Cerrado was in the news recently when it agreed to acquire all the outstanding shares of Voyager Metals Inc. it didn’t already own via a plan of arrangement deal. Voyager’s key asset was a 100% stake in the Mon Sorcier iron and vanadium project in Chibougamau, Que., which is advancing towards feasibility and permitting.
The Mont Sorcier iron ore property hosts a large iron resource with a significant amount of extractable vanadium located 18 kilometres from Chibougamau by road. The project has an indicated resource of 679 million tonnes of grade 27.8% magnetite and 0.20% V205, with the potential to produce 195 million tonnes of magnetite grading at least 65% Fe and 0.52% vanadium pentoxide (V205).