El Morro Project Receives Environmental Impact Studies Approval

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Researched by Industrial Info Research Latin America (Córdoba, Argentina)--Sociedad Contractual Minera El Morro (Vallenar, Chile), the joint venture between New Gold Incorporated (TSX:NGD) (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Goldcorp Incorporated (TSX:G) (Vancouver), announced that the environmental impact study of its El Morro mining project, located in Alto del Carmen, Chile, was approved by the Commission for Environmental Evaluation for the region of Atacama.

The project consists of a copper and gold operation exploiting the open-pit mine La Fortuna deposit, and represents an investment of $2.5 billion. It will process 90,000 tons of ore per day by conventional flotation, producing 300,000 ounces of gold and 150,000 tonnes of copper per year. Alto del Carmen is a community of 4,800 people located in the province of Huasco, 184 kilometers from Copiapo in the Atacama Region, in northern Chile.

Due to the difficulties of accessing water in the region, the project includes the construction of a seawater desalination plant to ensure the development of the project. This plant will be located in Punta Totoral and will pump 740 liters of desalinated water per second through 200 kilometers of pipelines from the coast to the mine, which is located 4,000 meters above sea level.

Upon environmental approval, the next step will be to update the feasibility study completed in 2008, when the project was owned by Xstrata (LSE:XTA) (Zug, Switzerland). It is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2011 and will include a review of capital expenditures, operating costs and will also consider a possible redesign of the mine plan.

Goldcorp Incorporated is a senior gold producer and employs more than 11,500 people in its exploration, mining, processing and recovery projects throughout the Americas. Goldcorp owns 70% interest in the El Morro project.

New Gold is a Canadian gold producer with operations in the United States, Mexico and Australia and developement projects in Canada and Chile. The company has a 30% stake in El Morro.

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