Aura Declares Commercial Production at Almas
September 05 2023 - 6:00AM
Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX: ORA, B3: AURA33 and OTCQX: ORAAF)
(“Aura” or the
“Company”) is pleased to
announce that commercial production has been achieved at its Almas
gold mine (
“Almas”) effective as of August 31,
2023. Almas mill is operating above 100% of the design capacity,
processing 4,000 tonnes per day, with recoveries consistently above
90% and ranging up to 92%. Approximately 4,661 ounces of gold were
produced in August, with gross revenues of approximately US$ 9
million recognized in the month.
Almas achieved full capacity at the mill in only
5 months after commissioning of the project, significantly ahead of
benchmarks as indicated in the chart below:
Ramp-up curve (Average compared to other
Companies)
Notes:
- Start-up curve classification showing
% of design capacity vs. time.
- McNulty C1*: Type 1 is an operation
that achieves the designed for production throughput easily within
12 months of commissioning.
- Comparison with other relevant mines
on the global stage and Plant Throughput.
Source:
- McNulty, T. P. (2004). Minimization of
delays in plant startups. In Plant Operator’s Forum 2004, Society
for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (pp. 113-120).
- McNulty, T. (2014). Plant Ramp-Up
Profiles an Update with Emphasis on Process Development.
Proceedings of the 2014 Conference of Metallurgists, Canadian
Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.
- Voigt, P., Walker, D., Kloiber-Deane,
O., & Tsvetkov, A. (2018). Ramp-up and long-term performance of
the Albion Process™ plant at GeoProMining Gold Armenia. In
Proceedings 14th AusIMM Mill Operators' Conference (pp.
339-350).
Consistent with the Aura’s strategy to start
small and optimize upfront capital expenditures, the Company is now
focused on investing in increasing the mill’s capacity from 1.3
million tons per year to 1.5 million tons per year. During the
remainder of 2023, Aura is expected to invest about US$3.5 million
for such production capacity at Almas. The capacity increases are
expected to be fully implemented at the beginning of 2024 and
contribute to an increased annual gold production of approximately
15% compared to Almas’ Feasibility Study.
Rodrigo Barbosa, Aura’s President, and CEO
commented, “We are very proud to declare commercial production at
Almas. We have not only built it on budget and in only 16 months
during challenging years, but we have also now ramped up in record
time, making us one of the world's leading benchmarks. We are also
now investing on exploration targeting new resources and reserves
while we are encouraged by the potential to increase the plant’s
capacity, to bolster production more than we initially projected,
with expected results already for 2024.”
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information
contained within this news release has been reviewed and approved
by Tiãozito V. Cardoso, FAusIMM, Technical Services Director for
the Company. Mr. Cardoso is a Qualified Person as defined in
National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects.’
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 operation and development of gold and base
metal projects in the Americas. The Company has 4 operating mines
including, the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico, the EPP
and Almas gold mines in Brazil and the San Andres gold mine in
Honduras. The Company’s development projects include, Borborema and
Matupá both in Brazil. Aura has unmatched exploration potential
owning over 650,000 hectares of mineral rights and is currently
advancing multiple near-mine and regional targets along with the
Serra da Estrela copper project in the prolific Carajás region of
Brazil.
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, production levels at Almas and the
timing of completion and the effects of Aura’s investments in
increasing production capacity at Almas. 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,
volatility in the prices of gold, copper and certain other
commodities, 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.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/12107f1f-0089-4743-9e6a-a93338d56a90
For more information, please contact:
Investor Relations
ir@auraminerals.com
www.auraminerals.com
Aura Minerals (TSX:ORA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Aura Minerals (TSX:ORA)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024