The construction of a mine for the extraction of gold in San Juan would have the capacity to expand the production of a sector that traditionally represents a third of the total exports Dominicans.
A socioeconomic study published last week by GoldQuest – a Canadian company that has been awarded a mining project located in the municipality of Romero – estimates that the deposit, if exploited, would allow the extraction of up to 109,000 ounces per year of gold On average, within the first eight years of operations.
This level of production could be translated into foreign exchange which are around 284,348,300 dollars, taking into account the rise in prices of this metal in the international market, whose price was $2,608.7 per troy ounce as of September 16, according to data from the portal Investing.
The amount could be extended to $391,305,000, if the increase is production up to the 150,000 ounces per year that the company believes could be extracted during the first five years of operations.
This is so, given that it is a totally virgin area, which would have enough gold for the extraction of 5 grams per ton – between 3 and 2.5 grams more than what Barrick Pueblo Viejo currently processes in Cotuí, Monseñor Nouel province.
Currently, the Romero concession area is awaiting a study of impact environmental which must be approved by the Central Government to determine whether a mine In this place – located 21 kilometers from the source of the San Juan River – it is feasible, without negatively impacting the environment.
The company proposes the construction of a mine completely undergroundlocated about 150 square meters from the surface, and which would extend to a depth of between 300 and 450 meters.
- The deposit would have the capacity to extract up to 2,800 tons of mineral per day. operationswhich also includes the extraction of copper.
Future impact
The extraction of gold from another mining source would improve the worth aggregate of this metal in the Dominican economy, as it is the main raw material of the mining sector, whose performance continues to close in the negative due to, among other aspects, the decline in the production of this metal.
The activity “Mining and quarrying” presented a contraction of -5.2% in July, according to data from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) published at the end of August, which registered a decrease of 11.3% since January, being the only one of all the activities that contribute to the growth of the economy, which continues to slow down so far this year.
Meanwhile, the exports Dominicans are beginning to rise after two consecutive years in a bad streak, due to a lower production in Pueblo Viejo, a mine open-air mine that requires the construction of a second tailings dam for the expansion of its operations.
Sales of the gold Gross sales – including platinum, for non-monetary use – reached 870.3 million dollars between January and August of this year, thus surpassing the 21.3% drop experienced in the same period last year, which placed the foreign exchange of this precious metal at 720.3 million dollars.
Only this segment of the gold represented 10.1% of the exports totals, which reached $8.611 billion in the first eight months of this year, according to data from the Center for Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic (ProDominicana).
When added with other derivatives of gold and includes contributions from metals like silver, the exports metallic goods exceed 30%, according to the General Directorate of Customs (DGA).
Likewise, the Romero deposit could potentially position the Dominican Republic in terms of the production of this metal. In 2023, the country was in 36th place among the countries that extracted the most gold in the world, according to the international trade association World Gold Council, with 17.6 tons. For that same year, the consulting firm GlobalData placed the Pueblo Viejo mine in eighth place within the top 10 of the largest mining deposits in the world, with a production of around 767,000 tons in 2023.
