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Bear
Creek Mining (TSX Venture: BCM / BVL: BCM) ("Bear Creek" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce the awarding of the Engineering,
Procurement and Construction Management ("EPCM") contract for the Santa Ana project to GMI S.A
("GMI"). The work, to commence immediately, will proceed on a
fast-track basis for completion of detailed engineering and lead-time
equipment procurement in order that construction of the project can start on
schedule in the latter part of 2011. The engineering work will be
carried out in Lima at the GMI offices. Silver production is targeted
for no later than the latter half of 2012.
Additionally,
on February 23, 2011,
the company successfully completed the public audience portion of the
Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA")
process. This is an important milestone in the permitting process and
the Company anticipates approval of the ESIA on schedule in the middle part
of this year.
According
to Marc Leduc, President and COO,
"We continue to aggressively advance the development of the Santa Ana heap leach project for start-up in
2012. The completion of the ESIA Public Audience and the awarding of the
EPCM work to a highly-qualified Peruvian firm are important milestones along
the path to production. Our experienced team will be continuing to work
hard to ensure a timely approval of the ESIA by the Peruvian authorities who
have demonstrated a great deal of support for this important new mine in Peru."
ABOUT
GyM AND ITS ENGINEERING SUBSIDIARY GMI
Graña
y Montero ("GyM") and GMI, respectively,
are the largest construction and engineering companies in Peru, both part of the Graña
y Montero Group, a publically traded company. GyM
has recently been involved in the construction of Cerro Verde's Sulfide, Gold
Field's' Cerro Corona, San Cristobal (Bolivia),
Barrick's Pueblo Viejo (Dominican
Republic),
Votorantin's Cajamarquilla's
expansion, Vale's Boyovar Phosphates, Yanacocha's Gold Mill, Antamina's
expansion as well as Xstrata's Antapacay and Las Bambas projects. GMI's clients include Antamina, Cerro Verde, Barrick,
Yanacocha, Votorantin, Cormin (Trafigura) and Pan
American Silver. Sales for GyM and GMI for 2010
were US$640 and US$32 million respectively.
About
Bear Creek:
Bear
Creek is focused in Peru,
a mineral-rich nation with a favorable investment climate. The Company has
recently completed a Pre-Feasibility Study on its Corani
Project and a Feasibility Study on its Santa
Ana
Project, which together estimate measured and indicated resources in excess
of 500 million ounces of silver of which over 320 million ounces are in
proven and probable reserves providing near-term production potential and
excellent leverage to silver prices. The Feasibility Study for Santa Ana defines a low-cost
"pure silver" mine producing 5 million ounces annually in the first
six years of an estimated 11-year mine life. The Pre-Feasibility Study for
the flagship Corani Project estimates average
annual production of 10 million ounces for the first six years of an
estimated 27-year mine life, with low cash costs and fast payback of capital
costs. Santa Ana is proceeding towards
permitting and construction while Corani is
undergoing a Feasibility Study.
The
TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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