The Federal Bureau of Land Management has issued a Record of Decision approving the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Cortez Hills mine in Nevada.
This means that the Barrick Gold Corporation company can now operate without the operational restrictions. Aaron Regent, President and CEO of Barrick Gold said that they were pleased to have the Record of Decision in hand and would like to thank the regulatory agencies for their thorough and detailed work.
The Cortez Hills mine has been operating under a tailored injunction of the US District Court since April 2010. This was based on restrictions to ore transportation and dewatering. The project in Nevada has recently begun production and its output has been of 0.21 million ounces valued at $329 an ounce.
With the restrictions now going off the project output is expected to increase to 1.30 to 1.45 million ounces in 2011 in the entire property. The cash cost per ounce is also likely to reduce to the range of $235 to $265 an ounce. The property includes the Pipeline Open Pit, the Cortez Hills Open Pit and the Cortez Hills Underground mines.
Mr regent said that Cortez Hills was a key asset for Barrick and one that will provide significant low cost ounces to the Company for many years to come. This mine is an important contributor to economic development and job opportunities in rural Nevada. Barrick Gold hopes to be the world's best gold company by engaging in finding, acquiring, developing and producing quality reserves in a safe, profitable and socially responsible manner.