The deposit that will make Huelva gold and is located near Riotinto

The deposit that will make Huelva gold and is located near Riotinto

The Canadian company Emerita Resources has reaffirmed its commitment to mining sector in Huelvaafter achieving a recovery of 64.3% gold in the La Romanera depositlocated between the Huelva towns of Paymogo and Puebla de Guzmán, as part of its metallurgical testing program aimed at the extraction of base and precious metals in the Iberian Belt West project.

The exploitation of ‘La Romanera’, La Infanta and El Cura – all of them belonging to the IBW project— has completed “more than 90,000 meters of diamond drilling using 16 drilling rigs simultaneously.” This work has been carried out in an area of ​​more than 1,500 hectares, where Various resources have been located such as gold, silver, copper and zinc.

Apparently, and according to The Economistthe La Romanera and El Cura deposits are exceptional in the Iberian Pyrite Belt due to their high gold values. As part of its strategy, Emerita’s technical team has prioritized the development of a process that maximizes the recovery of this metal, as explained by the company in a statement.

Mineral resources support the mining enterprise, which entails the design and mine construction and its industrial complex”. This project represents “modern and sustainable mining of the 21st century, with a great qualified team, contributing to the social and economic development of the Andévalo region“.

Two phases to extract gold

The first stage, known as conventional flotation, is aimed at the production of zinc, lead and copper. On the other hand, the second phase, called post-flotation, applies a pyrometallurgical procedure to the material left after flotation and then uses a leaching process to recover residual gold, silver, copper and zinc.

As noted, this second phase has “demonstrated a particularly positive impact” in the total gold recovery rate from La Romanera mineralization. The tests were carried out in collaboration with Wardell Armstrong International, based in the United Kingdom, and Dundee Sustainable Technologies Inc., based in Quebec, Canada, using a sample of gold with a high content from La Romanera.

Based on the results of the evaluation, they have estimated a 64.3% the total recovery of gold in the entire La Romanera deposit. The company believes that this value may represent the most conservative end of what is possible to achieve through post-flotation.

Post-flotation findings will feed into mineral resource estimates, upcoming economic studies and plant configuration adjustments, as well as contribute to future trade-off analyses.

Gold that employs 600 people

The IBW project is currently emerging as a sustainable mining benchmarksince it goes beyond the mere extraction of resources. It stands out for its economic drive, its commitment to the natural environment, respect for neighboring communities and effectiveness in the use of available means. In the province of Huelva, furthermore, this initiative has led to the creation of around 250 jobs during its exploration phase, hence the importance of maintaining permanent contact with government authorities.

On the other hand, Juan Luis Pozo, Director of Sustainability at Global Omnium, has stated that the exploitation of the three deposits could become an international benchmark for good practices in the mining sector.

So far, the Canadian company has invested close to 20 million euros with its own resourcesunderlining the success of the project, which has also promoted around 600 jobs among the local population.