Nativo Resources PLC (AIM:NTVO, FRA:A3Z) said its La Patona gold ore processing plant in Peru is now effectively construction-ready, leaving project financing as the key step before construction, commissioning and targeted first production in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The company said front-end engineering design, equipment schedules, procurement requirements and detailed costings have been completed. It is in advanced discussions with multiple potential financing partners and is also considering an offtake agreement and pricing received from a major commodities trading house.
La Patona is being designed as a regional processing hub for ore from Nativo’s own operations and third-party miners. Initial throughput is planned at around 70 tonnes per day, with blended feed grades targeted at between 15 g/t and 20 g/t gold, subject to available material.
At the Tesoro concession, Nativo has extracted and stockpiled around 46 tonnes of mineralised vein material from recent underground development, which is expected to form part of La Patona’s initial feed once the plant is operational.
The company will now redeploy resources towards higher-priority zones after a 186-channel-sample programme confirmed multiple high-grade shoots across the Tesoro and Tesoro 1 vein systems, while also reinforcing the narrow-vein, structurally controlled and locally discontinuous nature of mineralisation.
A two-week structural mapping programme is due to begin immediately before Nativo finalises the location of a new shaft targeting a priority zone to around 20 metres depth.
In London, Nativo shares were down 18% on Monday, changing hands at 0.21p.
