The needed cash injection came in February, when Buenaventura agreed to sell its 43.65% interest in the producing Yanacocha gold-silver-copper mine to Newmont (TSX: NGT)(NYSE: NEM), its partner in the operation. The $300 million deal included contingent payments of up to $100 million tied to future increases in metal prices, the miner said at the time.
Speaking at a webinar organized by the Peruvian-Chilean Chamber of Commerce, Buenaventura’s chief executive Roque Benavides said San Gabriel will be the company’s first mine to be 100% powered by solar energy.
Mine construction costs had been originally pegged at between $370 million and $430 million, but the use of solar energy helped the company cut the expected expenditure by more than $40 million below the lower end of the range.
