Alamos Gold Inc has announced initial gold production from the La Yaqui Grande mine, in Mexico, following the completion of construction this month, ahead of schedule.
Stacking rates continue to ramp up with leaching activities beginning earlier in June, it noted.
To mark the occasion, the company held a ceremony at site with President and Chief Executive Officer, John A McCluskey, members of the Alamos Gold Board of Directors, and employees from the La Yaqui Grande mine.
McCluskey said: “This represents a significant achievement with construction of La Yaqui Grande having been completed ahead of schedule while navigating a challenging environment over the past few years with COVID-19. On behalf of Alamos, I would like to congratulate our entire team at Mulatos. La Yaqui Grande represents another in a long line of discoveries that have continued
to extend the mine life of the overall Mulatos Complex since it began producing in 2005.
“Given its higher grades and recoveries, La Yaqui Grande underpins a strong outlook for Mulatos with higher production and lower costs driving growing free cash flow in the second half of this year and beyond.”
The Mulatos mine is a conventional open-pit, heap-leach operation with gold recovered through a carbon-in-column circuit.
A total of 991 oz of gold were produced from the initial pour.
La Yaqui Grande is expected to produce approximately 3,000 oz in June, which is already factored into June quarter consolidated production guidance of between 100,000-110,000 oz of gold.
Consistent with full year 2022 guidance, stacking rates at La Yaqui Grande are expected to ramp up through the second half of the year driving production higher and costs lower at Mulatos and company-wide, starting in the September quarter.
First announced in July 2020 as Alamos Gold’s next low-cost, high-return project in the Mulatos District, this large-scale construction project will extend the life of mine for at least five years, thus sustaining the company’s presence and importance in the production of gold in the state of Sonora, Mexico, the company said. La Yaqui Grande was completed ahead of schedule generating more than 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and will continue to sustain 450 direct jobs.