South African miner Gold Fields it had received environmental approval for its Salares Norte project, in Chile鈥檚 Atacama region.
While the company has yet to make an investment decision on the project, it said the permit was a crucial step forward.
鈥淭he company will now formulate a funding plan, update the feasibility study completed earlier this year and proceed to a construction decision during the first half of 2020,鈥澛燾hief executive Nick Holland .
Once up and running, the $834 million Salares Norte mine would generate 450,000 gold ounces a year over a 12-year mine life
Discovered in 2011, Salares Norte is one of five gold projects set to begin operations in the South American nation over the next three years.
The asset聽hosts 5.2 million ounces of gold, 39.2 million ounces of silver and 695 million pounds of copper.
Construction is estimated to cost $834 million and generate 2,700 jobs聽up to the end of 2022, assuming it gets the board鈥檚 approval. About 900 workers would be employed when the mine is operational, Gold Fields said.
Once up and running, Salares Norte would generate 450,000 gold ounces a year over a 12-year mine life.
Holland said last month that possible partners could get 20-30% of the project, with Gold Fields retaining a majority stake.聽
Chile鈥檚 gold production peaked in 2000 at 54.1 tonnes, data from the country鈥檚 copper commission, . The nation, the No.1 copper producer and second largest lithium producer after Australia, currently ranks 16th聽among the world鈥檚 top gold producing nations, according to聽,听
Other gold projects set to come online in Chile by 2023 are Kinross Gold鈥檚 La Coipa Restart, Yamana Gold鈥檚 El Pe帽贸n expansion, Canada鈥檚 Rio2鈥� Fenix and Australia鈥檚 Kingsgate Consolidated鈥檚 Nueva Esperanza.