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Royal Gold Announces Impact From Goldcorp's Expansion Plans at the Penasquito Project
DENVER, Dec. 5 /CNW/ -- ROYAL GOLD, INC. (Nasdaq: RGLD; TSX: RGL), the leading precious metals ro...
About this update from Red Lake Gold Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nDENVER, Dec. 5 /CNW/ -- ROYAL GOLD, INC. (Nasdaq: RGLD; TSX: RGL), the\nleading precious metals royalty company, today announced that Goldcorp Inc.\n("Goldcorp"), the operator of the Penasquito project located in Zacatecas,\nMexico, has approved plans to expand mill throughput by 30% to 143,000 tons\n(130,000 tonnes) of ore and to accelerate the construction schedule at the\nproject. According to Goldcorp, the expanded operation is now expected to\nproduce an average of 1.7 million gold equivalent ounces per year, compared to\na previous estimate of 1.3 million gold equivalent ounces per year.(1) Royal\nGold holds a 2.0% net smelter return royalty on all metals at the Penasquito\nproject.\n\n\nGoldcorp estimates the average annual life-of-mine production to be\n400,000 ounces of gold, 31 million ounces of silver, 417 million pounds of\nzinc and 214 million pounds of lead. Goldcorp's June 2006 feasibility study\nhad previously estimated annual production levels of 388,000 ounces of gold,\n23 million ounces of silver, 302 million pounds of zinc, and 157 million\npounds of lead.\n\n\n"Since the acquisition of our royalty interest at the Penasquito project\none year ago, reserves have increased 48%(2), the planned annual production\nhas increased 30%, and the mine life has been extended to 19 years," commented\nTony Jensen, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This is exactly the type\nof project upside we target for acquisitions. These operational improvements\nwill increase and accelerate our royalty revenues and significantly enhance\nour return on this investment."\n\n\nGoldcorp also reported that the project remains on schedule and is\nexpected to produce gold from heap leaching of oxides in 2008 with mill\nstart-up in 2009. In addition, Goldcorp reports exploration drilling,\nmetallurgical evaluations and optimization efforts are continuing to provide\nfurther project enhancements. As a royalty owner, Royal Gold is not required\nto contribute to any capital, development, exploration or mine operation costs\nfor the project.\n\n\nRoyal Gold is a precious metals royalty company engaging in the\nacquisition and management of precious metal royalty interests. Royal Gold is\npublicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "RGLD,"\nand on the Toronto Stock Exchan...