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In this article you will find the latest updates on the La María Mining Project from Fernando García Sanz, CEO of InnovaMinex:
- Last month the filter press broke down, but in the end it was only a two-day stoppage, so we are now building a dam to prevent contamination while the breakage is being fixed.
- We (the plant) are currently working on the first two phases and hope to activate the next phase next week. We distinguish between 1. grinding and crushing phase, 2. concentration phase, 3. cyanidation, 4. smelting.
- We do not know the final tenors at the moment as there are mixtures.
- We foresee the first smelting at the end of February.
- In the mine we are doing better than expected. This month we will sustain 25 tonnes per day mined.
- We expect to finish 2022 with more than 50 tonnes per day.
- We have found working areas with huge veins, more than 1.5m wide.
- Infrastructure works are being completed as planned.
- Finished laboratory, one of the best in the area.
Some of the questions from the community
When will we start receiving the benefits?
This month we will make the first meltdown, at the end of the month. So the benefits of that smelting will be credited in March.
Will we be milling for third parties?
Yes, but with a well-calibrated plant.
Are there people interested in milling?
Yes, many people.
Do you get the profit so quickly once you have the gold?
Yes, it is instantaneous, the gold is sold on the spot.
Can you explain the process from extraction to smelting?
We have working faces, you get the ore from those faces with blasting. From the wagons it goes to the hoppers and from there it goes to the plant. From there it goes to the mill, which is a closed circuit of 0.4 inches and from there it goes to the fines mill and from there to the thickener and concentrator. The ore that is not valuable goes out and we keep what is valuable, the concentrate that goes to the cyanidation vats. There, the noble metals become liquids and are precipitated with zinc salts to become solids in the form of cakes that go to the filter press, which makes them ready for the smelting furnace. The slag is removed and the melt remains, which is an ingot.
Does the plant need to be expanded?
No, a double shift is planned. In case of expansion, it is also planned, but not at the moment.
