Golden Eagle Announces the Start-Up of Construction and Infrastructure
Improvements On Its 11,000-Ton-Per-Day Gold Mining Operation and Recovery Plant
At Cangalli, Bolivia
SALT LAKE CITY, Oct 27, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Golden Eagle International,
Inc. (OTC Pink Sheets: MYNG) announced today that Ronald L. Atwood, Ph.D, the
Company's Vice President for Development, arrived in Cangalli, Bolivia, on
October 25, 2000, to initiate construction and infrastructure improvements on
Golden Eagle's projected 11,000-ton-per-day gold mining operation and recovery
plant at its Chaco Playa site at Cangalli, Bolivia.
Once constructed, the mining operation and plant will have a processing capacity
of 11,000 tons of material per day, but will begin processing 8,800 tons per day
during the 9-month initial phase of operations.
Golden Eagle has funded, through a convertible debenture with one of its
existing shareholders, the $75,000 necessary for this initial phase of
infrastructure improvements to the Chaco Playa site, as well as the preliminary
cement work, both of which are required before the beginning of the rainy season
at the end of November. However, the balance of the total cost to complete the
work on Golden Eagle's contemplated mining operation and recovery plant,
projected to be an additional $5,925,000, has not been raised by the Company to
date. The Company is currently in negotiations with several different parties
that may result in debt or equity financing, or a combination of debt and
equity, which together could provide the necessary funds to complete
improvements and construction.
In addition, on October 24, 2000, the Company entered into a contract with
COPROFI, S.R.L., an engineering firm in La Paz, Bolivia, for all of the
engineering services required for the infrastructure improvements; construction
supervision; tailings impoundment; and ongoing environmental studies and
filings. COPROFI engineers are accompanying Dr. Atwood at the site.
Due to the favorable topography and ground characteristics of the gold-bearing
conglomerate at the Chaco site, Golden Eagle intends to use a cost-effective
combination of open pit mining and underground block caving during the 9-month
initial phase of operations once infrastructure improvements and construction
have been completed. After that initial phase, the Company will focus all of its
efforts on the inexpensive block caving technique for all of its mining. The use
of block caving will result in high-volume earth movement at the lowest
estimated cost. As a result, and based on its estimated production costs and
data from five geological studies on the Cangalli gold deposit gathered by the
Company during the past 4 years, Golden Eagle's management has projected a
cost-per-ounce of gold produced of less than $75, which, if achieved, would be
extremely low by industry standards. However, it is important to note that
Golden Eagle's intent is to use data gathered from production resulting from its
mining and processing operations to prove up reserves, if any, at the Chaco
Playa site since the Company does not claim any proven reserves pursuant to
Guide 7 of the SEC Regulations. On this point, Dr. Atwood, Golden Eagle's Vice
President for Development, stated:
"Because of the sporadic deposition of the gold in the
conglomerate material found on Golden Eagle's Cangalli and
Tipuani Valley gold deposits, the Company's management has
statistically calculated that a relatively large volume of
potential ore must be processed to demonstrate the deposit's
economic viability. In management's opinion, the cost of
carrying out a statistically significant bulk sampling
program, when compared to staging Golden Eagle's
currently projected mining and processing operation, are
virtually the same. However, the potential benefits to Golden
Eagle of generating income and high-quality data at the same
time from the production scenario are much greater. Golden
Eagle's management believes that the secrets to the economic
viability of Golden Eagle's Cangalli and Tipuani Valley gold
deposits are: 1) volume, to even out per-ton gold grades and
reduce costs; and 2) fine-gold recovery technology, to ensure
the highest possible recovery of the gold present. Once these
inexpensive volume earth-moving techniques and fine-gold
recovery technologies have been perfected through this first
plant, Golden Eagle's management projects conservatively that
this same operation can be duplicated on many different sites
within Golden Eagle's current landholdings of 74,000 acres."
Golden Eagle's President, Terry C. Turner, stated:
"It is important for our shareholders and prospective
shareholders to know that we are going forward on the
infrastructure improvements and initial construction of
our gold operation in Cangalli, Bolivia, before the rainy
season sets in. All additional construction can take place
during the rainy season as funding becomes available. We
will continue our efforts to put these properties into
commercial production. There are risks associated with
Golden Eagle's approach, but management has weighed these
risks and we are still prepared to go forward because it
is our opinion that the outcome will be positive for
Golden Eagle's shareholders."
Golden Eagle International, Inc. is a gold exploration and mining company
located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Company is currently focusing its efforts
on developing its mining rights in the Tipuani Gold Mining District in Bolivia.
For more information about the Company, call Sabrina Martinez at 801/619-9320.
Media inquires should also be directed to Ms. Martinez. Golden Eagle can also be
found at its website: www.geii.com, where management recommends that all
shareholders and prospective shareholders review its Annual Reports on Form
10-KSB, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-QSB and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
The future conduct of Golden Eagle's business and its response to issues raised
by third parties are dependent upon a number of factors, and there can be no
assurance that Golden Eagle will be able to conduct its operations as
contemplated. Certain statements contained in this release using the terms
"may," "expects to," and other terms denoting future possibilities, are
forward-looking statements. The accuracy of these statements cannot be
guaranteed as they are subject to a variety of risks that are beyond Golden
Eagle's ability to predict or control and which may cause actual results to
differ materially from the projections or estimates contained herein. These
risks include, but are not limited to, the risks described in the above press
release; those risks set out in Golden Eagle's disclosure documents and its
annual, quarterly and periodic reports; and the other risks associated with
start-up mineral exploration operations with insufficient liquidity, negative
working capital, and no historical profitability. Specifically, it is also
important to note that there is a risk that the Company may not be able to raise
the additional funding necessary to finish construction of its contemplated
plant. In addition, there is a risk that once the operation is running, it will
not be economically viable. All of these risks, as well as all other risks
associated with a small gold mining company and South American operations,
should be carefully examined by all shareholders and prospective shareholders.
Golden Eagle disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement
made herein.
CONTACT: Golden Eagle International, Inc., Salt Lake City
Sabrina Martinez, 801/619-9320
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KEYWORD: UTAH INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MINING/METALS
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