POWERCHINA on Oct 20 received notice it had won the tender for sinking the mine shaft and installing the smelting plant at the Buritica gold mine in Colombia.

The two bids will be implemented by a joint venture formed by Sinohydro Bureau 11 Co and Sinohydro Bureau 10 Co, both subsidiaries of POWERCHINA.

The project is another breakthrough, after Sinohydro Bureau 11 Co won successive bids for water plant and hospital projects in Colombia this year. It is also the first time that Sinohydro Bureau 11 Co has been involved in mining engineering in South America.

The Buritica gold mine project is located about 72 kilometers northwest of Medellin, the capital of the province of Antioquia in northwestern Colombia.

It is an underground mine, with a designed daily processing capacity of 3,000 metric tons of ore and annual gold output of about 7.8 tons after ramping up to full capacity. The planned gold output in 2020 is about 4 tons of gold.

The two projects will have to meet tight schedules. POWERCHINA will make every effort to implement safety protection measures for employees and coordinate with neighboring countries, to deploy personnel and equipment resources to make the project deadlines.