Minera Florida Mine

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This mine is 100% owned by Yamana Gold and is also known as the Alhué Mine. In the third quarter of 2007, Yamana acquired and merged with Meridian Gold Inc. (Meridian), a mid-tier gold producer with two mining operations in Chile and development and exploration projects throughout the Americas. The Pedro Valencia Mine of Minera Florida was one of Meridian’s gold producers in Chile.

It is an underground gold-silver mine with a 2,400 tonnes per day plant incorporating flotation and the Merrill-Crowe process. The mine has been in operation for over 20 years. Retreatment of historic tailings is expected to increase annual production by approximately 30,000 GEO per year for five years commencing in 2013. The mine also produces by-product zinc, amounting to 5,997 tonnes in 2013. The underground mining methods are sublevel open stoping and cut and fill. Access to the underground workings is from a number of adits, ramps, crosscuts, and drifts.

The property consists of 166 mineral licences covering a total area of approximately 15,600 ha. The property is partly owned and partly leased by Yamana, and the Pedro Valencia Mine is located within the property boundaries. Mining licences in and around the Pedro Valencia Mine area are contained within a rectangular block (2.5 km x 1.5 km) comprising 33 licences. The property also includes some 133 mineral concessions in a large area around the mining licences.

The mill is a conventional flotation mill, with an INCO SO2/air cyanide destruction circuit, which produces gold doré as well as a zinc concentrate. The recently expanded processing plant has a capacity of approximately 65,000 tonnes per month. Currently, the mill operates at the rate of 2,400 tpd.