Engenho Gold Project Overview
Snapshot
- Established gold mine located in the Iron Quadrangle in the mining state of Minas Gerais of SE Brazil
- Currently on care and maintenance
- Metallurgically stable ore profile averaging 93-94% and excellent mine/mill reconciliations
- Recent exploration success has defined new emerging production centres at Crista and Olhos, within a 2km radius of the existing plant
- Broader exploration to unlock the significant potential of the northern satellite areas
Overview
Mundo Minerals produced gold from the Engenho Underground Gold Mine from 2008 through to 2011. The mine is located in the Iron Quadrangle region approximately 40 minutes from the regional capital of Belo Horizonte in south-east Brazil.
The Engenho Project tenements present an emerging suite of resource opportunities with the potential to justify re-opening of the Engenho processing plant as a result of the premium grade of the additional projects in the tenement.
The future of Engenho Gold Project rests with the development of the emerging Crista open pit which is located on the Mundo tenements approximately 4.2km haulage distance to the existing treatment facilities. The development of Crista will deliver approximately 25,000 ounces of production and is expected to transform the economics of the operation through the introduction of an important new high-grade ore source.
The Company is also focused on establishing additional production sources at Olhos, an emerging resource located between Engenho and Crista, where preliminary surface exploration has confirmed the presence of high-grade gold.
Exploration over the Engenho tenement holdings has covered approximately 40% of the area. Exploration success to date has been productive and future exploration will be focused on potential of the broader tenement base.
Processing & Production
Ore is processed through a conventional carbon-in-pulp processing plant that Mundo constructed immediately adjacent to the open pit.
The plant was commissioned on 30 April 2008 with initial gold bullion production achieved in mid-June 2008. Gold ore is processed and refined under contract at an external refinery.
Since commissioning, the treatment facility has achieved excellent metallurgical recoveries averaging around 95%, compared to initial expectations of 93%.
Exploration over the Engenho tenement holdings has covered approximately 40% of the area. Exploration success to date has been productive and future exploration will be focused on potential of the broader tenement base.
Crista
The Crista ore body, located approximately 1.6 km directly north of the existing Engenho underground ore body. This orebody will initially be mined through an open pit mining techniques.
Mining will be undertaken using contractors and ore will be treated through the existing treatment facilities owned and operated by Mundo Minerals. An all-weather haulage road will be constructed between Crista and the mill.
Current drilling has been restricted to only 70 metres below the surface and the initial resource of approximately 26,000 ounces represents only the initial stage of expected mining from Crista.
Deeper drilling will be undertaken once mining has commenced and the resource is expected to extend at depth, consistent with the other resources mined in the region.
Exploration
The initial Engenho gold resource was based on drilling to a depth of approximately 270 metres below surface. The resource remains open at depth and expectations are that the resource will continue for some distance below this level based on the structure of ore bodies in the region.
The underground Engenho resource is located on an area of 11 hectares, within the Company’s broader tenement holding of 713 hectares.
An assessment of the broader exploration potential of the tenement has yielded a number of significant exploration targets requiring advanced exploration.
Regional exploration activity has already resulted in the delineation of the Crista resource, and the Company’s immediate exploration focus will be directed towards developing a resource at the nearby Olhos prospect, which has delivered preliminary exploration success.
The development of Crista and construction of a new haul road is expected to open up these satellite areas to the north of the Engenho treatment facility to exploration and resource development.
A systematic exploration program will be undertaken over the broader Engenho tenements which have not been fully tested and the Company will also aim to develop a more regional profile from which to further enhance the potential of the Engenho gold project,
Location & Logistics
The Engenho Gold Project in Brazil is located in the “Iron Quadrangle” region in the mining state of Minas Gerais in south-eastern Brazil. The project is situated approximately 40 minutes from Belo Horizonte, Brazil’s 3rd largest city.
The iron Quadrangle hosts major iron ore deposits operated by Vale, which produces approximately 50% of its iron ore from this region, and major gold mines operated by AngloGold Ashanti, which produces approximately 400,000 ounces of gold annually from the area. The Iron Quadrangle also has a number of mid-tier mining operations.
The area is well structured to service the resources sector with many internationally recognised consulting firms being based in Belo Horizonte, well-serviced towns located close to the mine, and a readily accessible and experienced workforce available to the Company.
The Engenho Project is well located with respect to infrastructure such as mains power and water, and is located just 5km from the regional town of Rio Acima.





