Luca Mining Reports US$8 Million Mine Operating Profit in 3Q24

Luca Mining reported its financial results for the three and nine months ended Sep. 30, 2024. The company reported a positive mine operating profit of US$1.7 million for 3Q24 and US$8 million for the first nine months of the year, despite challenges related to mill shutdowns during optimization and ramp-up efforts at its Campo Morado and Tahuehueto operations.

The company continued its optimization and ramp-up operations at Campo Morado in Guerrero and Tahuehueto in Durango, with progress made despite several mill shutdowns due to testing and adjustments.

For 3Q24, Luca generated a positive mine operating profit of US$1.7 million and US$8 million. However, EBITDA for 3Q24 was negative, amounting to US$1.1 million, while EBITDA for the nine months of 2024, saw a 396% increase, reaching US$11.4 million.

Luca Mining’s net revenue for 3Q24 was US$18.1 million, reflecting a 60% increase over the previous year’s revenue. Total net revenue for the first nine months of 2024 reached US$52.6 million. Mine operating cash flow before taxes stood at US$2.4 million in 3Q24 and US$9.8 million for the nine months.

Luca produced 11,988oz AuEq in 3Q24, including 3,604oz of gold, 158,778oz of silver, 5,876,385lbs of zinc, 1,817,924lbs of copper, and 1,141,934lbs of lead. Luca Mining’s total production for the nine months ended Sep. 30, 2024, amounted to 40,083oz AuEq.

The Campo Morado Improvement Project (CMIP) aims to achieve a 2,000t/d throughput and steady, efficient plant operation. The company says copper recoveries have reached nearly 80%, and the copper-lead separation initiative is ongoing. The mill is expected to produce separate concentrates for zinc, copper, and lead, which will increase the quantity of saleable metals. Campo Morado also marked a milestone with one year of zero lost-time injuries. 

The mobilization of new mine contractor Cominvi is nearing completion at Campo Morado. This partnership will allow Luca Mining to increase production and access cost-effective mining equipment without significant capital expenditures. “Optimization at both Campo Morado and Tahuehueto continues to progress. 3Q24 was a transitional quarter where a key focus was to complete work on the mines and mills which impacted our results, but this work is setting the stage for exciting growth ahead in 4Q24 and for 2025. The idea of the optimization program is to realize the full value of our two operating mines,” says Dan Barnholden, CEO, Luca Mining. 

Luca Mining said the Tahuehueto mine’s ramp-up and commissioning are progressing well, with throughputs reaching over 800t/d. The mine is moving closer to achieving commercial production. In addition, an exploration drilling campaign has begun at Tahuehueto, targeting a 5,000m drill program over the next 4-6 months. This marks the first major exploration campaign in over a decade for the project.

Luca Mining also began paying down its term debt through cash flow, with plans to be debt-free by mid-2026. Recently, Luca Mining closed a fully subscribed brokered private placement under the "listed issuer financing exemption" resulting in the issuance of 19 million LIFE Units raising CA$8.5 million (US$6.1 million). Additionally, a concurrent non-brokered private placement raised another CA$2.8 million bringing the total gross proceeds to CA$11.3 million.