1
24-063
New Life for the Veragold Mine—Low Risk Tailings Storage
D. Foot
Veragold Mining Company, United States
Jeff Easton
ClearStream Engineering, United States
J Johnson
Jerold Johnson Consulting, LLC, United States
ABSTRACT
The Mina Santa Rosa mine in Panama was the victim of
a mine closure 24 years ago that left the community in
dire straits. The mine showed the potential resources of
greater than 1M ounces of gold and 4.5M ounces of silver.
Veragold Mining Company decided to reopen the mine
and address all the issues that were involved in the startup
of an historic mine. This paper provides methods to restore
the community trust, provide a transparent process, and
develop an environmentally sound flowsheet. Immense
scrutiny surrounded the Tailings Storage Facility, and the
company developed a plan focused on paste thickening and
surface stacking to eliminate the need for a conventional
tailings’ facility. Paste thickener principles and benefits are
also provided.
INTRODUCTION
In early 2000, the town of Cañazas in the Veraguas
Province of Panama lived an experience not uncommon
to mining communities whenever depressed markets or
technical failures result in the premature closure of a mine
and the departure of a foreign company. In the aftermath
of unkept promises, unmet payrolls, limited economic
opportunities, and environmental legacies of an abandoned
mine at their doorstep, the prospect of reopening the
mine understandably agitated old wounds and rekindled
community divisions. After riots ensued, fires were set, and
mine infrastructure was destroyed, and with memories of
past cyanide spills still lingering, fears of history repeat-
ing itself understandably resurfaced. When the new own-
ers acquired the property a decade later, the community
was naturally suspicious. Public statements by the Mayor
of Cañazas in 2012 acknowledged that although some sec-
tors of the district supported mining development, local
authorities were not universally supportive of resuming
mining activity in the area. It is against this backdrop that
Veragold Mining Company has worked over the last decade
to reopen a brownfield project. Through ongoing dialogues
with the community, the company has sought to under-
stand the needs, desires, and fears of its stakeholders, and
has allowed each interchange of ideas to reshape the Mina
Santa Rosa project.
HISTORY
Located adjacent to the town of Canazas, Panama, 300 km
from Panama City, resides the Minas Santa Rosa project that
operated under the previous owner Greenstone Resources,
Ltd. They operated an open pit-heap leach facility from
mid-1996 through August 1999 and produced 100,007 oz
of gold. Heavy rainfall in 1997 and 1998 caused opera-
tional problems and diluted the pregnant leach solution.
The Minas Santa Rosa operation was put into care and
24-063
New Life for the Veragold Mine—Low Risk Tailings Storage
D. Foot
Veragold Mining Company, United States
Jeff Easton
ClearStream Engineering, United States
J Johnson
Jerold Johnson Consulting, LLC, United States
ABSTRACT
The Mina Santa Rosa mine in Panama was the victim of
a mine closure 24 years ago that left the community in
dire straits. The mine showed the potential resources of
greater than 1M ounces of gold and 4.5M ounces of silver.
Veragold Mining Company decided to reopen the mine
and address all the issues that were involved in the startup
of an historic mine. This paper provides methods to restore
the community trust, provide a transparent process, and
develop an environmentally sound flowsheet. Immense
scrutiny surrounded the Tailings Storage Facility, and the
company developed a plan focused on paste thickening and
surface stacking to eliminate the need for a conventional
tailings’ facility. Paste thickener principles and benefits are
also provided.
INTRODUCTION
In early 2000, the town of Cañazas in the Veraguas
Province of Panama lived an experience not uncommon
to mining communities whenever depressed markets or
technical failures result in the premature closure of a mine
and the departure of a foreign company. In the aftermath
of unkept promises, unmet payrolls, limited economic
opportunities, and environmental legacies of an abandoned
mine at their doorstep, the prospect of reopening the
mine understandably agitated old wounds and rekindled
community divisions. After riots ensued, fires were set, and
mine infrastructure was destroyed, and with memories of
past cyanide spills still lingering, fears of history repeat-
ing itself understandably resurfaced. When the new own-
ers acquired the property a decade later, the community
was naturally suspicious. Public statements by the Mayor
of Cañazas in 2012 acknowledged that although some sec-
tors of the district supported mining development, local
authorities were not universally supportive of resuming
mining activity in the area. It is against this backdrop that
Veragold Mining Company has worked over the last decade
to reopen a brownfield project. Through ongoing dialogues
with the community, the company has sought to under-
stand the needs, desires, and fears of its stakeholders, and
has allowed each interchange of ideas to reshape the Mina
Santa Rosa project.
HISTORY
Located adjacent to the town of Canazas, Panama, 300 km
from Panama City, resides the Minas Santa Rosa project that
operated under the previous owner Greenstone Resources,
Ltd. They operated an open pit-heap leach facility from
mid-1996 through August 1999 and produced 100,007 oz
of gold. Heavy rainfall in 1997 and 1998 caused opera-
tional problems and diluted the pregnant leach solution.
The Minas Santa Rosa operation was put into care and