Financial results for Q3 2023, including detailed reporting of our operating costs, are expected to be released by next month.
Q3 2023 Production Highlights 47,732 tonnes mined containing 11,047 ounces of gold ('oz Au') at a blended grade of 7.20 grams per tonne gold ('g/t Au') and 13,931 ounces of silver ('oz Ag') at a grade of 9.08 grams per tonne silver ('g/t Ag') 26,982 tonnes mined containing 9,153 oz Au at 10.55 g/t Au and 11,209 oz Ag at 12.92 g/t Ag from diluted vein material 20,749 tonnes mined containing 1,894 oz Au at 2.84 g/t Au and 2,722 oz Ag at 4.08 g/t Ag from historical dump and other mineralized material above cutoff grade ('historical dump + other') 23.2:1 strip ratio overall which includes pre-stripping of the
Recoveries of 77.4% for gold in Q3 2023 (85.5% from
Mining
The mine averaged 519 tpd of diluted vein and historical dump + other material in Q3 2023 with a strip ratio of 23.2:1 which included pre-stripping of the
The average grade of the diluted vein was 10.55 g/t Au during the quarter. In the first half of the quarter, the Company didn't have access to initial production from the Las Conchitas bulk sample. After obtaining permits to begin mining this area, average grades extracted from the mine improved, and the quality of material extracted significantly reduced the amount of preg-robbing material reporting to the griding facility, which significantly improved the process plant recovery.
Milling
All components of the 500 tpd gravity and carbon-in-leach processing plant have been fully operational since the beginning of
In the second half of Q3, tonnage from test pits from Las Conchitas began producing mill feed. The percentage of Las Conchitas in the overall mill feed is expected to increase during Q4. The early tonnage from Las Conchitas will primarily be oxide material with relatively low preg-robbing carbon which will contribute to an expected gold recovery improvement during Q4 compared to Q2 and Q3.
Temporarily delay from 3rd party refinery
Prior to the receipt of Las Conchitas mining permits, when the mill was operating with a 35% diluted vein material blend instead of the 50% diluted vein material blend, the Company had lower than planned head grades and higher than planned preg-robbing material, which led to lower gold production.
In addition, the locations in the pit mined during the quarter contained significantly higher deleterious elements than the overall deposit average resulting in much higher concentrations of these elements in the dore bars. Deleterious element content in the mined material is expected to return to deposit averages in the upcoming months.
In addition to minor penalties from the Company's third-party refiner, the high concentration of deleterious elements led to a 13-day delay in our gold sales process. This, in part, led to a 2,900 oz. difference between gold ounces recovered and gold ounces sold during the quarter. These ounces were sold later in October, and due to improvements in head grades and the normalization of the elution circuit, we no longer face this issue.
Since the Company reports Cash Cost, Total Cost and AISC based on gold ounces sold and not gold ounces recovered, this will have a negative impact on these accounting costs during Q3, and a positive impact on these accounting costs in Q4 relative to what they would have otherwise been. Serendipitously, because of this delay, the Company benefited from higher gold prices which were almost
About Mako
Contact:
Tel: 203-862-7059
Email: aleisman@makominingcorp.com
Forward-Looking Information: Statements contained herein, other than historical fact, may be considered 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information contained herein is based on the Company's plans and certain expectations and assumptions, including that Q3, 2023 detailed operating costs and financial results will be available by the end of this month; the additional optimizations noted may improve recoveries further and that the Company can operate San Albino profitably in order to fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package. Such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation; that the Company is not successful in operating San Albino profitably and/or funding its exploration of prospectus targets on its district-scale land package; political risks and uncertainties involving the Company's exploration properties; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expense; commodity price fluctuations and other risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the Company's public disclosure filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof, based on information currently available and is included for the purposes of providing investors with the Company's expectations regarding the Company's Q3 2023 production results at San Albino gold project, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Mako does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
(C) 2023 Electronic News Publishing, source