Soma Gold Corp has underlined the impact of the start of mining at its new Cordero mine in Colombia on August 15 this year, as the company posted record output for the month.
The company said 1,968.2 gold-equivalent ounces were produced at its El Bagre processing mill last month.
Of the 12,191.82 tonnes milled at the plant during August, sourced from across the group's assets, 1,240.87 tonnes came from the new Cordero mine
READ: Soma Gold expects to be using full processing capacity by year-end as revenue grows in second quarter
"Mining in the months prior to August was restricted to only the La Ye and Mangos mines where combined mining averaged 338 tonnes per day (TPD)," said Javier Cordova, Soma's CEO In a statement. "That tonnage represents only 75% of the el Bagre mill capacity and 51% of the combined el Bagre and el Limon installed capacity."
Cordova noted that the average head grade in the year-to-date (YTD) across the group has been 4.76 grams per ton (g/t). At Cordero, the average grade has been 9.35 g/t.
"As production at Cordero continues to ramp up over the coming months, we expect to restart the el Limon mill and increase combined through-put to 600+ TPD at an average grade of 7.5 gpt. The increase in both the tons milled and average grade will result in a significant increase in the monthly gold production," said the company boss.
Production at Cordero is expected to ramp up to 400 TPD during the fourth quarter this year and to 600 TPD in early 2022.
Soma Gold owns two adjacent mining properties (La Ye and Mangos) in Antioquia, Colombia with a combined milling capacity of 675 TPD and is permitted for 1,400 TPD, while its El Bagre processing mill is currently operating and producing.
On September 1, the company reported strong revenue growth in its second quarter and a narrowing of its loss.
Revenue for the three months to June 30, 2021, came in at C$8.3 million, up from C$1.6 million in 2Q, 2020 after the sale of 3,802 ounces of gold-equivalent (2Q 2020: 707 ounces). The net loss for the period was C$1.1 million versus a loss of C$2.4 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com