(Kitco News) - Minera Alamos (TSX VENTURE: MAI)announced Thursday that it has made an initial delivery of gold dor?(C) from itsSantana gold project in Sonora, Mexico.
The gold was recovered fromearly material stacked on the Santana heap leach pad during the months of Julyand August and intended primarily to commission the company's carbon recoveryplant and associated solution pumping systems in advance of ramping up dailymining operations, Minera Alamos said in a statement.
Leaching activities commencedat the end of August as the rainy season subsided and the results to date haveconfirmed the rapid gold extraction kinetics experienced during the heap leachtest pad operations concluded in 2019, the company added.
"We are thrilled to haveturned the corner to become a gold producer at our first mine in Mexico,"stated CEO Darren Koningen. "The results from early operations have confirmedthose from previous test mining activities at Santana with rapid goldextractions and low reagent consumptions. If the current ramp-up trendscontinue we appear to be well on track to exceed our initial timing forachieving consistent net cash generation at the operation level."
Importantly, the company pointedout that the overall ramp-up in mining activities at the Santana project sitecontinue to advance as expected.
As the mining operations atthe Nicho Norte starter pit continue to ramp-up, the company said it hascontinued planning for the eventual start of mining activities at the NichoMain Zone.
"Ultimately the ability tosource mineralized material from multiple locations will facilitate moreoptimal mine production scheduling and ultimately allow the company to expandproduction rates beyond our initial targets," Minera Alamos noted.
Minera Alamos is a goldproduction and development company. The company has a portfolio of Mexicanassets, including the 100%-owned Santana open-pit, heap-leach mine in Sonorathat is currently going through its operational ramp up.
By Vladimir BasovFor Kitco News
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