(Kitco News) – Minera Alamos (TSX VENTURE: MAI) announced Thursday that it has made an initial delivery of gold doré from its Santana gold project in Sonora, Mexico.
The gold was recovered from early material stacked on the Santana heap leach pad during the months of July and August and intended primarily to commission the company’s carbon recovery plant and associated solution pumping systems in advance of ramping up daily mining operations, Minera Alamos said in a statement.
Leaching activities commenced at the end of August as the rainy season subsided and the results to date have confirmed the rapid gold extraction kinetics experienced during the heap leach test pad operations concluded in 2019, the company added.
“We are thrilled to have turned the corner to become a gold producer at our first mine in Mexico,” stated CEO Darren Koningen. “The results from early operations have confirmed those from previous test mining activities at Santana with rapid gold extractions and low reagent consumptions. If the current ramp-up trends continue we appear to be well on track to exceed our initial timing for achieving consistent net cash generation at the operation level.”
Importantly, the company pointed out that the overall ramp-up in mining activities at the Santana project site continue to advance as expected.
As the mining operations at the Nicho Norte starter pit continue to ramp-up, the company said it has continued planning for the eventual start of mining activities at the Nicho Main Zone.
“Ultimately the ability to source mineralized material from multiple locations will facilitate more optimal mine production scheduling and ultimately allow the company to expand production rates beyond our initial targets,” Minera Alamos noted.
Minera Alamos is a gold production and development company. The company has a portfolio of Mexican assets, including the 100%-owned Santana open-pit, heap-leach mine in Sonora that is currently going through its operational ramp up.