Minera Alamos Pours First Gold Doré at its Santana Project

Minera Alamos announced it has achieved its first gold production from its Santana gold project in Sonora. The company said that if it continues to generate positive results, it will improve production and achieve consistent net cash generation at the operating level sooner than expected.

Minera Alamos announced that it made an initial delivery of gold doré from its Santa project, which contained approximately 400oz of gold. The company explained that ore was recovered from the early material stacked on the project's heap leach pad during July and August. Furthermore, the company said that the leaching activities that began in August have confirmed the project’s rapid gold extractions and low reagent consumptions.

Minera Alamos said it shipped its first gold doré off-site to validate the operating procedures and QA/QC of the treatment facility, which is being considered for future concentration processing. The company explained that the mineral was also shipped to be refined and later sold. Subsequent deliveries will be announced as they progress, the company said in a press release.

“We are thrilled to have turned the corner to become a gold producer at our first mine in Mexico. It is truly a credit to the abilities of our technical group that we have managed to successfully complete this transition while dealing with all the challenges of the last 18 months as a result of the pandemic. 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,” said Darren Koningen, CEO of Minera Alamos.

In addition, mining activities continue to progress as expected. The company reported that in October it mined approximately 200,000 tons, which is almost double what was extracted in September. The company explained that the mine's production rates were close to its initial design start-up levels. However, it also explained that some variability in production metrics is expected for some time until operations begin to stabilize.

Furthermore, the company continues to plan the start of mining activities in the Nicho Main Zone, which will facilitate a more optimal mining production and expand production rates beyond the initial objectives of the company.