Luca Mining Cash Position Falls to US$24.7 Million in 2Q26

Canada-based Luca Mining Corp. reported a cash balance decrease to US$24.7 million in 2Q26, driven by heavy capital allocation toward underground development, tax payments, share repurchases, and record exploration drilling across its Mexican operations. The intentional cash deployment and operational adjustments—such as underground stockpiling at the Campo Morado mine in Guerrero and plant enhancements at the Tahuehueto mine in Durango—aim to optimize mill feed and elevate long-term metallurgical recoveries. These operational updates highlight key capital allocation strategies and supply chain management developments affecting Mexico’s precious and base metals mining sector.  
 

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Canada-based Luca Mining released its operational and financial results for 2Q26, reporting a cash balance of approximately US$24.7 million compared to US$36.4 million recorded at the end of March 31, 2026. The company says it is focused on improving operations at its main assets in Guerrero and Durango. 

According to Luca Mining, the cash position reflected continued capital allocation toward underground mine development, exploration, lump-sum tax payments, share repurchases, and negative provisional pricing adjustments caused by lower gold and silver market prices. Outstanding debt stood at approximately US$1.4 million at quarter-end, with final settlement scheduled during July 2026.

During the quarter, consolidated metal production reached 6,161oz of gold, 334,237oz of silver, 2.66Mlb of copper, 1.94Mlb of lead, and 8.88Mlb of zinc. Consolidated payable metal totals for the quarter comprised 5,373oz of gold, 267,404oz of silver, 1.96Mlb of copper, 656,000lbs of lead, and 6.35Mlb of zinc.

At the Campo Morado mine located in Guerrero, total metal production reached 1,700oz of gold, 234,896oz of silver, 2.23Mlb of copper, 964,000lbs of lead, and 7.27Mlb of zinc. Payable output from the operation registered at 963oz of gold, 173,578oz of silver, 1.72Mlb of copper, and 5.26Mlb of zinc. Operational decisions to establish an underground stockpile led to an increase in mined tonnage relative to milled tonnage during the quarter. This initiative temporarily reduced processed volumes and short-term metal output to provide operational flexibility for mill feed optimization before the execution of the Campo Morado Mine expansion project.

“We remain focused on operational improvements at both mines, with particular emphasis on Campo Morado where we are advancing mill feed optimization initiatives, supported by an established stockpile, towards improved metallurgical recoveries in the near term, while progressing the design of the Campo Morado expansion, which is expected to deliver further improvements in recoveries,” said Dan Barnholden, CEO, Luca Mining.

At the Tahuehueto mine in Durango, total production recorded 4,461oz of gold, 99,340oz of silver, 434,000lbs of copper, 979,000lbs of lead, and 1.61Mlb of zinc. Payable metal output reached 4,410oz of gold, 93,826oz of silver, 244,000lbs of copper, 656,000lbs of lead, and 1.09Mlb of zinc. Operational performance at the underground site benefited from plant processing improvements, ongoing underground infrastructure development, and the integration of new mining contractor La Cantera.

Luca Mining’s Latest Exploration Results 

Exploration activities achieved a quarterly company record during 2Q26, completing approximately 12,400m of drilling. Total exploration drilling for 1H26 reached approximately 22,000m. Drilling activities focused on near-mine targets and resource expansion initiatives at both operating sites to extend reserve life and enhance operational flexibility.

On June 24, 2026, MBN reported that Luca Mining had encountered high-grade drilling intercepts and expanded its 2026 exploration campaigns across its two flagship operations in Mexico. At the Campo Morado Mine, surface hole CMRY-26-10 in the unmined El Rey zone intersected 28.4m grading 2.28g/t Au and 134.89g/t Ag, including 9.7m returning 4.09g/t Au and 208.99g/t Ag. In the unmined Naranjo zone, underground hole CMUG-26-44 intersected 19.6m grading 2.78g/t Au and 103.12g/t Ag, while hole CMUG-26-42 returned 20.6m grading 3.05g/t Au and 50.69g/t Ag. Exploration at the property also integrates target generation via VRIFY Technology and DORA AI software, which processed historical datasets including 650,000m of drilling, 30,000 soil samples, and 153 geophysical layers through 100 automated deep learning models to define 6 high-priority targets for ground-truthing.

At the Tahuehueto Mine, an additional US$2.4 million was allocated to the 2026 campaign, utilizing 2 contracted surface diamond drill rigs and 1 company-owned underground rig to complete 40 underground holes totaling 8,268 metres and 25 surface holes totaling 4,599m. Surface drilling below Level 23 at the Creston vein intersected 6.8m grading 5.54g/t AgEq in hole DDH26-SU-07, including a 1.0 metre interval returning 22.35g/t AgEq. Hole DDH26-SU-04 returned 4.5m grading 4.50g/t AgEq. Underground drilling at the El Rey vein structure, unmined since 1983, verified mineralization in hole DDH26-239 with 3.3 metres grading 3.04g/t AgEq, including 1m returning 7.48g/t AgEq.