Communiqué sent by MinexCorp on the La Maria mining project.
“We are pleased to share with you the summary of the first quarter results for the La Maria project.
Although we have not yet reached profitability, we are experiencing steady progress and expect to reach that point in the near future.
In January, mill operating time was 68.30 hours, with a total of 134.57 tonnes of ore processed per mill time. The tonnes processed per day reached 4.49 and 1.97 tonnes per hour. The amount of gold in actual grams smelted was 1,218.46. In February, mill operating time increased to 88.16 hours, processing 183.22 tonnes of ore.
The tonnes processed per day and per hour also experienced growth, at 6.11 and 2.08 respectively. In terms of actual grams of gold smelted, 798.15 grams were recorded.
Finally, in March, the mill operating time was 35.58 hours, and 68.51 tonnes of ore were processed. The tonnes processed per day and per hour were 2.28 and 1.93, respectively, while the actual gold in grams smelted reached 828.90 grams.
It is worth mentioning that in March we have carried out plant shutdowns to carry out operational improvements, as reported in our last communications. These improvements are focused on increasing production and material processed, which is already being noticed in April and can be certified in next quarter’s results.
Throughout the first quarter, we have seen an increase in production, which shows that the La Maria project is in the process of consolidation and moving towards profitability. Although we are not yet generating profits, we continue to work hard to optimise our processes and reduce costs.
Regarding the profit advances granted last year, it is important to mention that they were based on estimated and not actual costs. Therefore, these advances will be accumulated in a specific account and applied to actual profits once profitability is achieved.
We appreciate your confidence in and support of the La Maria project. We are committed to continually improve our operations and to keep you informed of future progress and achievements.
First Quarter 2023 in data
At Maria we are working with ore from other companies and working gold from other companies. The number of workers has increased at the plant.
Progress at the plant
The plant had a capacity of 60-70 tons, but it was not working properly so we had to expand the plant.
Here are the improvements:
The tanks are for the cyanidation area, which was the part that stopped us the most, because if there are no detoxification tanks to finish cyanidation, if we don’t have this detoxification capacity, the work ends up stopping us.
Q1 costs in La Maria
The operating cost has to come down in the coming months. These costs should start to fall from the second quarter onwards.
Forecasts
We are currently pumping about 40 tonnes per day. We have already made all the electrical and general adaptations of pipes, valves, etc. to reach 200 tonnes. What would be missing would be an additional tank and a large mill.
The profit calculations are starting to look good, because we are working with external material until we work our own ore. If the business is profitable in this way, the plant can be expanded.
