VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Sep. 21, 2009 (Marketwire) -- Rio Alto Mining Limited ("Rio Alto") (TSX VENTURE:RIO)(FRANKFURT:MS2) is pleased to announce that as manager of La Arena S.A. it has filed an Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") with Peruvian authorities to develop a 24,000 tonne per day open pit gold oxide mine at La Arena.
Prior to filing the EIA with the Ministry of Energy and Mines, consultations were held with various government agencies including the National Water Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Energy and Mines Authority for the Province of La Libertad and the Municipality of Huamachuco. Lodging the EIA with the Ministry of Energy and Mines is a major milestone in the permitting and development process for La Arena and follows more than two years of study and preparation by the staff of La Arena S.A., Rio Alto and external consultants directed by Tecnologia XXI S.A.
The review and approval of the EIA is expected to be completed in six to nine months, which allows Rio Alto to target the start of production at La Arena during the fourth quarter of 2010.
Throughout the EIA approval process Rio Alto will continue with detailed engineering, metallurgical testing, geotechnical assessments and community relations efforts to prepare for construction and development upon receipt of environmental approvals for an open pit gold oxide mine. Work recently completed and ongoing at La Arena includes:
- In early September, 100 tonnes of representative run-of-mine ore was collected for definitive metallurgical test work leading to detailed process plant design;
- Sterilization (condemnation) drilling of approximately 5500 meters to confirm that planned infrastructure locations are barren of economic mineralization started in August and will be finished in late October;
- Topographical and aerial survey work was completed, in August, to an accuracy of one meter to allow for detailed engineering of site infrastructure;
- Vector Peru S.A. conducted a geophysical survey of the underground aquifer at La Arena to target water wells and for hydrogeological studies;
- A power demand report was prepared for discussions with a large distributor for the supply of power to the gold oxide project. An estimate of power and associated capital costs should be received some time in October;
- Several exploration targets were revisited and prioritized for future work.
"I am very pleased with the progress we are making at the La Arena Project" commented Alex Black, Director & COO.
