Aura Minerals Announces Preliminary Third Quarter 2020 Production Results

 

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, Oct. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX: ORA) (B3: AURA32) (“Aura” or the “Company”) today announces preliminary production results for the third quarter of 2020.

Total production across our operations for the third quarter of 2020 was 56,472 gold equivalent ounces (“GEO”)¹, demonstrating strong production recovery after being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Pandemic”) in the first and second quarters of 2020.

The chart below shows consolidated quarterly production volume, measured in GEO¹, since the first quarter of 2019. In the third quarter of 2020, the Company resumed the growth trend started at the beginning of 2019, which was interrupted in the first and second quarters of 2020 mainly due to interruptions of operations in Mexico and Honduras as a result of the Pandemic:

Aura’s Consolidated Production Volume by Quarter, in GEO¹:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/329c3683-a9f2-4c66-9564-9715324eb45a

Preliminary GEO¹ production volume for the three months ended September 30, 2020, when compared to the previous quarter and the same period of 2019 were recorded by each operating mine as follows:

^{¹ Gold equivalent ounces, or GEO, is calculated by converting the production of silver and copper into gold using a ratio of the prices of these metals to that of gold. The prices used to determine the gold equivalent ounces are based on the weighted average price of silver and copper realized from sales at the Aranzazu Complex during the relevant period.}

	For the three months ended September 30, 2020	For the three months ended June 30, 2020	For the three months ended September 30, 2019	% change vs. Q2 2020	% change vs. Q3 2019
Ounces produced (GEO)
San Andres	18,802	8,835	20,746	+113%	-9%
EPP Mines¹	18,231	13,725	14,506	+33%	+26%
Aranzazu	17,909	14,748	17,290	+21%	+9%
Gold Road²	1,530	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total GEO produced - current prices³	56,472	37,308	52,542	+51%	+7%

A summary of the performance by each operating mine is explained below:

• San Andres: Strong production recovery compared to Q2 2020, which was impacted by the interruption of operations due to the Pandemic. Aura believes production was still below the mine’s potential, however, as the months of August and September have historically been strongly impacted by high rain volumes in the region.

• Brazilian Mines: Best quarter since the EPP start-up in 2016 as result of increase in ore mined and higher grades due to Ernesto (still at pre commercial production stage) and high grade areas at the Japonês pit. The Company still expects commercial production in Ernesto to be declared by the fourth quarter of 2020.

• Aranzazu: Aranzazu experienced an increase in production of all metals in the third quarter of 2020 as compared to the previous quarter and to the third quarter of 2019, when the operation was close to full capacity, as shown in the table below:

	For the three months ended September 30, 2020	For the three months ended June 30, 2020	For the three months ended September 30, 2019	% change vs. Q2 2020	% change vs. Q3 2019
Gold Production (oz)	5,881	5,066	4,879	+16%	+21%
Silver Production (oz)	101,379	91,646	92,682	+11%	+9%
Copper Production (klbs)	6,921	6,164	6,392	+12%	+8%
Total GEO produced - current prices³	17,909	14,748	17,290	+21%	+3%

^{¹ Includes ounces produced and which were capitalized for projects at pre-commercial production stages.
² Ounces capitalized in Q3 2020. The Gold Road Project was acquired by Aura in March 2020 and had no production in the first and second quarters of 2020.
³ GEO calculated for Aranzazu using the realized weighted average prices of copper, silver and gold from each of Q3 2020, Q2 2020 and Q3 2019.}

As previously disclosed, the Company is working to increase production capacity by approximately 30%, having increased production capacity to date, and expects to achieve this increase by late 2020.

Gold Road: As previously disclosed, the Company shipped its first gold from the project in September 2020. The Company expects Gold Road to declare commercial production by December 2020.

Qualified Person

Farshid Ghazanfari, P.Geo., Geology and Mineral Resources Manager for Aura Minerals Inc. has reviewed and confirmed the scientific and technical information contained within this news release and serves as the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements”, as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including, without limitation, the Company’s expectations regarding increased production at Aranzazu and the declaration of commercial production at Ernesto mine and the Gold Road Project. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as “plans,” “expects,” “is expected,” “budget,” “scheduled,” “estimates,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “anticipates,” or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results “may,” “could,” “would,” “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.

Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company’s ability to predict or control could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Specific reference is made to the most recent Annual Information Form on file with certain Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities for a discussion of some of the factors underlying forward-looking statements, which include, without limitation, copper and gold or certain other commodity price volatility, changes in debt and equity markets, the uncertainties involved in interpreting geological data, increases in costs, environmental compliance and changes in environmental legislation and regulation, interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations, general economic conditions and other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements herein are qualified by this cautionary statement. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

About Aura 360° Mining

Aura is focused on mining in complete terms – thinking holistically about how its business impacts and benefits every one of our stakeholders: our company, our shareholders, our employees, and the countries and communities we serve. We call this 360° Mining.

Aura is a mid-tier gold and copper production company focused on the development and operation of gold and base metal projects in the Americas. The Company’s producing assets include the San Andres gold mine in Honduras, the Ernesto/Pau-a -Pique gold mine in Brazil, the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico and the Gold Road gold mine in the United States. In addition, the Company has two additional gold projects in Brazil, Almas and Matupá, and one gold project in Colombia, Tolda Fria.

For further information, please visit Aura’s website at www.auraminerals.com or contact:

Rodrigo Barbosa
President & CEO
305-239-9332