Media Luna’s Mineral Resource Estimates a 58 percent Increase

Torex Gold has updated its Mineral Resource estimate for its Media Luna project, which shows a 58 percent increase in contained gold equivalent (AuEq) metal in the Indicated Resource category compared to its 2019 estimate.

Torex is the second-largest gold producer in Mexico and owns 29,000ha at the Morelos Gold Property in the Guerrero Gold Belt. Its assets include the El Limón Guajes Mining Complex (ELG), which began commercial production in 2016, and the Media Luna deposit, currently in an advanced stage of development with a feasibility study in process.

The updated Indicated Mineral Resource for its Media Luna project is estimated at 3.44Moz of AuEq (20.9 million tons at an average grade of 5.27 g/t AuEq). This represent a 58 percent increase compared to its Indicated Resource estimate of December 2019, which was of 2.24 Moz AuEq (12.6 million tons at a grade of 5.55 g/t AuEq).

The new Inferred Resource is estimated at 2.48 Moz AuEq (18.9 million tons at a grade of 4.08 g/t AuEq). Meanwhile its previous estimate was of 4.56 Moz AuEq (33.5 million tons at a grade of 4.23 g/t AuEq.) The company explained that the drop of 14.6 million tons is because  8.3 million tons were raised to the Indicated category, in addition to the impact of the geological model that used information collected from the drilling in the Media Luna Upper zone.

The Inferred Resource estimated is at 1.01 Moz AuEq (8.0 million tons at a grade of 3.93 g/t AuEq) from EPO, which did not change compared to the previous estimate. The EPO is an area of mineralization located north of Media Luna deposit and south of the Balsas River. Its mineralization is only in the Inferred Resource category; therefore, the company has decided that the area will be on the mine plan within the Media Luna Feasibility Study.

The new mineral resource estimate includes 568 drill holes, from which 137 holes were completed during the 2020 drilling program, 38 holes were drilled under the 2021 infill campaign and the remaining holes were planned in the 4,000m infill program for 2021 and will be included in the next mineral resource update, which will be used for the elaboration of Media Luna Feasibility Study.   

"With the existing drill program covering only 30 percent of the area of the host magnetic anomaly, we see significant potential to grow and upgrade the resource base at Media Luna over the coming years,” said Jody Kuzenko, President and CEO of Torex Gold. She added that the company is currently planning an exploration program, which will likely include the expansion of its infill drilling program by the end of 2021, step-out drilling in Media Luna in 2022, resource growth from the ELG and testing other targets on th