About Us – Saracen

Our Vision and the Future of Tolling

Toll Milling, or Tolling has been prevalent in Peru and much of South America for hundreds of years. It is the most cost efficient and effective process for local artisanal miners to be able to process their ore, and extract value from it, without needing to own their own processing plant.

It is a very simple and straightforward concept: ore is purchased from artisanal (small scale) miners, the ore is milled and processed, and then a profit is made by selling either the finished product, or the refined concentrate. It can be undertaken with most metals, but gold and copper are the most common.

As previously stated, the need for tolling in the future is only going to increase following the decision by the Peruvian government in 2012 to regulate and control illegal mining in Peru. The key to develop, operate and sustain a toll milling plant is very clear - the companies in question must grow and maintain excellent community related programmes to be able to successfully negotiate with the local ore providers.

For Saracen Pro S.A. this matches exactly our vision of creating an environmental and community-based business, utilising local expertise and experience whenever possible

Working under the banner “Build it Better, Build it Cleaner” the Company intends to embark on a mission to develop the first profitable, carbon neutral processing plants in Peru, deploying new technologies in the process - from organic reagents to sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sources.

Why Peru

Blended figures from the US Geological Survey and Peru’s Ministry of Energy state that Peru is the largest producer of copper in the world (2.35 million tonnes in 2016) and is the largest producer of gold (4.92 million ounces in 2016) and molybdenum (25.76 thousand tonnes in 2016) in Latin America.

Peru has a rich history of mining, beginning with gold and the Inca Empire. Some of the earliest and original methods of mineral extraction are still used today by artisanal miners who have passed on their skills and methods from generation to generation.

Over the past 40 years, the number of artisanal miners has increased substantially. Historically artisanal mining in Peru has been largely unregulated and illegal. In 2012 there were an estimated circa 500,000 unregistered artisanal miners in Peru and following a decree in 2012 they were mandated to register and formalize operations within a 2-year period. To date circa 300,000 miners are now formally registered and permitted,

The goal of the government in mandating the formal registration of artisanal mining was to keep track of operations (to eradicate illegal mining) and collect taxes. To encourage the adoption this new program operations were fast tracked, including the permitting of small-scale mills (up to 350 t/pd capacity).

With so many artisanal miners in Peru, ore is plentiful and can be purchased at a significant discount to the market, and the miners bear the cost of attributable treatment costs from their margin. This gives artisanal miners the main benefits of large-scale processing, without the associated infrastructure costs, with the trade-off being the price received for the ore.

Community and Employee Engagement and Support

Workforce Safety
Ensuring the safety of the Saracen workforce. This will follow three strands - education in best practice of operations and utilizing equipment safely and effectively, physical security, and the provision of appropriate PPE (personal protection equipment) for all employees.

Workforce Medical Facility
Saracen Pro takes the health and wellbeing of our workers and their families very seriously. Following recent global events (e.g. COVID 19), we intend to build a medical facility within the a plant, with a resident Medical Officer, to deal with on-site medical emergencies, but also to provide a resource for wider potential health concerns affecting workers and their families.

Investing in research and development of “green” processing techniques
Through our proposed partnership with the San Luis Gonzaga National University of Ica, Saracen will be investing in research and development of green mining techniques, in association with experts at the University. This will include providing paid for research, funding for research projects, as well as opportunities to work within the research and operational side of the company.

Local Community Investment
It is the intention of Saracen to create a positive and recognised impact within the local community. We recognise clearly the importance of working with and not against the local community and artisanal miners and therefore Investing in the local community, growing and developing trusted long-term relationships and partnership.

Wherever possible we will look to employ community locals, and also seek opportunities for investment with the community on specific projects locally.