The Inca Gold Mines: Cerro Corona

   Cerro Corona, Cajamarca, Peru
 

Cerro Corona is a mine located ten kilometers northwest of the town of Hualgayoc, 30 kilometers southwest of Bambamarca (provincial capital) and 90 kilometers away from Cajamarca city, the capital of the department. It is active in the following commodities : Copper and Gold.

Cajamarca is located in the northern highlands of Peru and is the capital of the Cajamarca region. It is approximately 2,700 m (8,900 ft) above sea level and has a population of about 135,000 people. Cajamarca has an equatorial climate so it is mild, dry and sunny, which creates very fertile soil. The city is well-known for its cheeses and dairy products. Cajamarca is also known for its churches, and hot springs, or Inca Baths. There are also several active mining sites in surrounding areas. Most of all, Peruvians remember Cajamarca as the place where the Inca Empire came to an end;. In 1532 the Spanish conquistador Pizarro captured the last Inca emperor Atahualpa. The emperor gave a ransom of a roomful of gold for his release but Pizarro killed him anyway.

Incan Treasure story. Eight billion dollars' worth of Inca gold and silver are rumored to be hidden in an unmapped region of the Andes. This is the captivating story of that fabled treasure and the centuries-old spell it has cast on many, including a young American student, Peter Lourie. While completing anthropological fieldwork in Ecuador,

Lourie heard the legend of Atahualpa's ransom. The Incas gathered seven-hundred tons of gold (Sweat of the Sun) and silver (Tears of the Moon) to purchase the freedom of their king, Atahualpa, from Pizarro and his conquistadors. After the Inca ruler's murder, the treasure vanished into the forsaken Llanganati range of the Andes. Book "Sweat of the Sun, Tears of the Moon: A Chronicle of an Incan Treasure" by Peter Lourie.
 

Gold Fields’ new Cerro Corona turns in star performance

February 12, 2010. Source: Mining Weekly.com by Martin Creamer.
 

This is a star performer” was the branding given to Cerro Corona, Gold Fields’ new gold/copper mine in Peru that generated a free cash flow of $29-million in the quarter.

Gold Fields South America head Juan Luis Kruger tells Mining Weekly that Cerro Corona outperformed the plan. He believes that its strong cash generation will be ongoing. Read more: Mining Weekly.com.
 

Gold Fields: Cerro Corona "a star performer"

February 4, 2010. Source: BusinessNews Americas.com by Laura Superneau.
 

South Africa-based giant Gold Fields posted net earnings of US$187mn for the three months ended December 31, the second quarter of the company's fiscal year 2010, compared to US$54mn year-on-year.

Global output inched up to 900,000oz of gold from 839,000oz in the year-ago period. The company's only producing operation in Latin America, Cerro Corona in Peru, contributed 34,500oz of gold and 10,600t of copper in the quarter, or 98,400oz gold equivalent at a cash cost of US$378/oz.

"Cerro Corona - I think outperforming is a bit modest. This is a star performer," Holland said. In the year-earlier quarter, the mine was still in the ramp-up phase and produced 62,000oz gold equivalent.

The mine is providing "strong sustained cash generation," said executive VP in charge of the South America region Juan Luis Kruger, noting cash flow in the December quarter was US$29mn.

Guidance at Cerro Corona for the quarter to end on March 31 is 100,000oz gold equivalent at a cash cost of US$355/oz, or 36,600oz gold and 10,200t copper.

Kruger outlined three areas of focus at Cerro Corona:
  - maximizing throughput to above 750t/hr,
  -  increasing recoveries to surpass 85% for copper and 65% for gold,
  -  and improving grade control with better ore blending.

 Read more: BusinessNews Americas.com.

 

Currency volatility may spoil Gold Fields' R8,5bn capex plan

August 6, 2009. Source: Mining Weekly.com by Martin Creamer.
 

South African gold major Gold Fields, which plans to spend R8,5-billion capital in its current financial year, may have to review that expenditure if the volatile rand continues to squeeze profit margins and the company's mines fail to achieve their production targets.

Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland said, however: "We've been in a much worse position than this before, and we got through it, and I'm sure we'll get through this as well."

Holland gave guidance that the company, which produced 3,4-million ounces of gold in the year to June 2009, would produce between 3,7-million ounces and 3,8-million ounces in its current 2010 financial year, which he described as "a year of heavy capital expenditure".

"We're going to be spending about R8,5-billion this year - that's a billion dollars," Holland said, following expenditure of R7,6-billion in the 2009 financial year.

Read more

Cerro Corona: Gold Fields Will Miss Target After Slow Start in Peru

October 10, 2008. Source: Bloomberg by Carli Lourens and Nicky Smith.
 

Gold Fields Ltd., Africa's second- largest gold producer, won't meet its Aug. 1 forecast for first- quarter production because technical difficulties delayed the start-up of its Cerro Corona mine in Peru.

Production was about 798,000 ounces in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2.7 percent less than the Aug. 1 forecast of 820,000 ounces, the Johannesburg-based company said a statement to the city's stock exchange today. Cash costs will probably be 1.3 percent higher at about $618 an ounce compared with the previous estimate, it added.

Cerro Corona produced about 71 percent less than the planned 42,000 ounces, Gold Fields said, adding it still expects the mine to reach full production by Dec. 31. The mine yielded about 12,000 ounces.

Read more.

Gold Fields CEO says global gold supply to tighten

October 3, 2008. Source: Reuters by Dana Ford.
 

CAJAMARCA, Peru, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Global gold supply will likely contract as the financial crisis in the United States saps funds away from planned mining projects, Nick Holland, the chief executive of Gold Fields said on Friday.

"Some of the juniors and intermediate companies are not going to be able to develop their projects. And I think what this means is that mine supply in gold is probably going to decline more than what people realize," Holland told Reuters.

The lead of the world's fourth-largest gold producer, based in South Africa, was in Peru to inaugurate the company's Cerro Corona mine. Read more