Minera Alamos Announces Successful Blast at Santana Gold Mine

Minera Alamos reports they have successfully executed the first planned production blasts at the Nicho Norte pit at the Santana gold mine in Sonora, Mexico.

The first phase of the blasting at Nicho Norte provided excellent fragmentation, while further optimization is planned and blasting operations continue. Stockpiling of the mineralized material is ongoing in advance of the initiation of screening and crushing activities. This first material will be used to test the leaching circuit and commission the carbon plant prior to continuous loading of the heap leach pad, as Minera Alamos takes a prudent approach to ramping up operations at Santana throughout the remainder of 2021, ahead of more steady state operation in 2022 and beyond, reported the company in a press release.

“The Company is tremendously proud of the efforts of our Mexican operations group and their success in moving a new gold project through construction and into operations during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.  It has required major perseverance and significant skill and creativity,” said Darren Koningen, CEO of Minera Alamos. “The start-up of operations allows us to efficiently perform our final optimizations at a production scale while moving towards commercial production. It is an exciting time for everyone in the Company and our investors as we make the final transition to a gold producer.”

The Santana Gold Mine

The Santana Gold mine is 100 percent owned by Minera Alamos, and it is located in the state of Sonora. It is also an open pit mining with heap leach processing, and it is expected to extract gold.

The exploration phase made during 2008-2011 outlined significant gold mineralization associated with hydrothermal breccias hosted in stocks and batholithic intrusions in the Nicho Main Zone target area. Several other mineralized satellite targets were identified within the project area via surface sampling and limited drilling, as reported on their website.  

Bulk test mining was conducted mid-2018 where approximately 1,000 oz of gold were recovered, as well as additional residual gold that is still being recovered from the leach pad. The results fully support the development of the project with a goal towards commercial-scale operation. MIA/ETJ approval has been received, construction has started, and mining began in Q1 2020, reported Minera Alamo’s website.