Morro Velho

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Morro Velho, also called AngloGold Ashanti Mineração after its current owner AngloGold Ashanti, is a complex of gold mines located near the city of Nova Lima in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. The mines have been in operation since 1835, making it the world's oldest continuously worked mine. Some of the mines' works are over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) deep underground. Although Morro Velho's main production is gold, silver, arsenic, and other minerals are also extracted at the mining complex.

Despite closing of the Minha Velha and Engenho D'Água mines in 2003 and 2004, gold production has increased over the past three years, with 240,000 ounces (6,800 kilograms) of gold produced in 2004 at an average recovered ore grade of 0.222 ounces per ton (7.62 grams per metric ton). Cash costs of production totaled $133 per ounce, with the mine realizing adjusted operating profit of $45 million.