Celesta copper mine in Brazil reaches production

Lara Exploration (TSXV: LRA) reported that mining and processing have started at its Celesta copper project, located near the town of Curionópolis in northern Brazil.

In a press release, the Canadian miner said that first concentrates are due to be shipped in early August. 

Lara owns a 2% net smelter returns royalty on the project and a 5% carried (to production) equity interest in the operating company Celesta Mineração S.A., which is jointly operated by partners Tessarema Resources and North Extração de Minério. In parallel, Ocean Partners UK has provided project finance in exchange for life of mine offtake rights.

Celesta’s mining program will initially focus on the Osmar target that has an indicated resource estimate of 2.14 million tonnes, with average grades of 4.2% copper and 0.66 parts per million gold.