Maricunga Gold Mine is an

open pit Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

in Chile. It is owned by

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

-based

Kinross Gold Kinross Gold Corporation is a Canadian-based gold mining, gold and silver mining company founded in 1993 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Kinross currently operates six active gold mines, and was ranked fifth of the "10 Top Gold-mining ...

, but it has been closed since August 2016.

Geology

The Maricunga Gold Mine is located within the Maricunga Gold Belt of Chile. Poyrphyry gold mineralization occurs in the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

(dated to 22 to 24 million years ago) Maricunga volcanic-intrusive complex.

Description

In 1998 Kinross began operating the mine following a merger with Amax Gold (which changed its name to Kinam ), which held a 50% stake in the property, with the remainder coming with the 2007 purchase of Bema Gold Corporation. In 2010 Kinross announced completion of a

feasibility study A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...

for a $290 million expansion project to the Maricunga mine, which would increase production by 10 million tons, and 90,000 ounces per year. The expansion includes additions to their mobile equipment fleet, additional crushers and a long conveyor. In August 2016, Kinross ceased operations at the Maricunga gold mine, resulting in a layoff of 300 employees. The decision to close the mine was the result of the Chilean government "shut ngdown the water system linked to the operation over environmental concerns."

Geology

Description

References

Further reading