Mount Todd Gold Mine in Northern Australia to Resume Production in 2015

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--The Mount Todd gold mine in Northern Territory, Australia, is gearing up to restart production after being mothballed for almost 12 years. Vista Gold Corporation (TSX:VGZ) acquired the mine, which is about 250 kilometers south of Darwin and 40 kilometers northwest of the town of Katherine, in 2006 for an estimated $2.1 million. Historically, the mine has been marred by problems such as an exceedingly hard low-grade ore and copper presence; however, Vista Gold is capitalizing on its cost-efficient production methods, expanded exploration drilling and a rise in global gold prices.

In 2012, Vista Gold announced that the mine had 7 million ounces of measured and indicated and 2 million ounces of inferred resources. Vista will be refurbishing some of the mine's existing infrastructure, such as wastewater storage, heap leach pads, access roads, natural gas pipelines and electrical power lines. It will be required to install a 64-MW, gas-fired power station to power the processing plant. During its operational phase, the mine will employ a permanent staff of 280 employees, and an accommodation village is being considered for the mine site. The nearby towns of Katherine and Pine Creek will ensure a skilled workforce for the mine development and operation. It will use a two-stage development strategy, wherein it will initially construct a 30,000-tonne-per-day ore processing plant, which will be expand it to 45,000 tonnes per day after two years of operations.

The Northern Territory government has been supporting the refurbishment of Mount Todd, and there is no Native Titles issue associated with it. While Vista Gold continues to work with the government on approval, it expects to commence with a prefeasibility study in early 2013 and ready the mine site for a construction kick-off in mid-2014. Vista Gold continues to engage several consulting firms from the U.S. and Australia during the design engineering phase to ensure the most efficient methods of production.

Vista Gold recently appointed Brent Murdoch as general manager for the Mount Todd project. He will be overseeing the project development through its preliminary and bankable feasibility study.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.