La Colosa mine
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| Location | |
|---|---|
  La Colosa Location of La Colosa in Colombia | |
| Location | Cajamarca |
| Department | Tolima |
| Country | Colombia |
| Coordinates | 4°25′00″N 75°30′00″W / 4.4167°N 75.5000°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Gold |
| Production | 1,810.35 g (63.858 oz) |
| Financial year | 2015 |
| History | |
| Opened | 2006 |
| Owner | |
| Company | AngloGold Ashanti |
La Colosa is a porphyry gold mine in Colombia.[1] The mine is located in Cajamarca, Tolima on the eastern flanks of the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes. La Colosa has estimated inferred resources of 24,000,000 ounces (680 t) of gold, grading at 0.9 to 1.0 milligram per kilogram (1.4×10−5 to 1.6×10−5 oz/lb) of Au.[1] In 2015, the mine produced 1,810.35 grams (63.858 oz) of gold.[2] In 2016, 88.4% of the mining value in Colombia came from coal and gold combined, with nickel following at 9.3%.[3]
La Colosa, covering an area of 600 square kilometres (230 sq mi), is the second major greenfield discovery in Colombia, after Gramalote and believed to have a potential of producing between 800,000 and 1,200,000 ounces (23 and 34 t) of gold per year for 20 years. La Colosa gold project, started in 2006, is based on low-grade porphyry copper deposits containing a small amount of gold. Gold grains in the deposit are found both liberated and locked in sulphides and silicates.[1] The gold mineralization in the deposit is attributed to porphyry intrusions into the Paleozoic schists of the Cajamarca Complex on the eastern flank of the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes,[4] around 8 Ma. Gold mineralization is believed to have occurred over three early phases of intrusion, which are accompanied by a series of potassic and sodic-calcic alteration events and a late phase of dacite porphyry intrusions.[1]
