Lundin's Fruta del Norte produced 28,678 oz gold in 2019

Fruta del Norte, discovered in 2006, is one of the world's biggest recent gold findings. (Image courtesy of Lundin Gold)

Lundin Gold (TSX: LUG) reported Thursday afternoon that ramp-up to commercial production is on schedule and on budget at its Fruta del Norte gold project in southeast Ecuador, the country's largest. A total of 28,678 ounces of gold were produced by the end of 2019.

Of the total production at Fruta del Norte which kicked off production in November 2019, 3,411 ounces of gold were produced in the form of dor?(C) and 25,267 ounces were produced as concentrate. Approximately 3,400 tonnes of concentrate were produced, of which 2,676 tonnes were shipped to a smelter in Finland by year-end.

Ramp up is progressing well, and the company expects to reach commercial production on schedule in the second quarter of 2020

"We produced first gold on schedule and on budget and exported our first shipments of concentrate and dor?(C) in the fourth quarter of last year," said Ron Hochstein, president and CEO of Lundin Gold.

Ramp up is progressing well, and the company expects to reach commercial production on schedule in the second quarter of 2020.

Construction progress was 99.2% complete as at year-end. Only the paste plant and the Zamora River bridge remain to be completed, which are anticipated to occur in the second and third quarters of 2020, respectively.