Orla Mining Announces Successful Drilling Program at Camino Rojo

Orla Mining presented an update on its exploration program at Camino Rojo for 1H23. The annual exploration program consists of three projects with a total budget of US$22 million. The company reports that fill drilling to reduce spacing between holes to 25-30m in the Sulfide domain has continued to yield high-grade gold intersections (>2 g/t) over wide widths (>30 m).

The company confirmed a new style of semi-massive to massive polymetallic mineralization (Au-Ag-Zn) in drilling tests beneath the sulfides hosted in the Caracol Formation. These deeper intersections indicate that the mineralization remains open at depth along and adjacent to interpreted structures, similar to a feeder for the currently defined Camino Rojo deposit.

“The 2023 Camino Rojo Sulphides infill and deep extension drill programs continue to generate excellent gold intersections, including massive sulphide replacement style mineralization below the current resource. These results are exciting as they enhance future development opportunity scenarios and provide resource growth potential at depth,” said Sylvain Guerard, Senior Vice President, Orla Mining. 

The company also encountered high-grade gold assays with visible gold, highlighting the prospectivity on its under-explored regional land package. “We are advancing a full exploration pipeline in 2023 in an effort to upgrade and expand reserves and resources and make new discoveries,” Guerard added. 

Follow-up drilling in the Guanamero target area, located approximately 7 km northeast of the Camino Rojo mine along the mine's structural trend, yielded encouraging and narrow high-grade gold results, according to the company, with occurrences of visible gold (VG) in two out of the seven completed holes.

At the beginning of the year, Orla Mining announced it would invest US$100 million in Camino Rojo, seeking to strengthen local suppliers to boost the mining sector.

In 2022, the Camino Rojo mine achieved its increased production forecast of between 100,000 and 110,000oz, producing 109,596 oz of gold. In addition, Orla had a cash position at the end of 2022 of US$96.6 million and a net increase of US$7.5 million in 4Q22. 

The Camino Rojo mine is expected to produce between 100,000 and 110,00oz of gold in 2023. The average daily ore processing throughput is anticipated to be above 18,000t/d, while average mine production is anticipated to be above 40,000t/d.