Orla Mining (TSX: OLA; NYSE: ORLA) has accomplished its first gold pour at the Camino Rojo gold-silver project in Zacatecas state, Mexico. The first pour occurred on schedule on December 13.
Three bars were poured with a total weight of 1,278 oz. containing approximately 770 oz. of gold and 510 oz. of silver.
“In less than two years, we have permitted, financed, and constructed our first project, while maintaining the health and safety of our workforce,” Orla CEO Jason Simpson said in a media release. “This accomplishment is the result of the hard work and diligence of the entire team, and we are incredibly proud.”
Camino Rojo is an open pit and heap leach operation wholly owned by Orla. During November, the company mined a total of 466,215 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.65 g/t gold. It crushed and stacked 374,976 tonnes on the leach pad.
As of mid-December, 1.6 million tonnes of ore at an average grade of 0.72 g/t gold had been mined and 750,564 tonnes stacked.
The project is based on oxide resources, and there is significant sulphide ore potential at depth. The measured and indicated resources of the oxide portion are 94.6 million tonnes grading 0.71 g/t gold and 12.7 g/t silver for 2.1 million oz of gold and 38.8 million oz. of silver.
The sulphide resource has measured and indicated resources of 258.8 million tonnes at 0.88 g/t gold and 7.4 g/t silver for 7.3 million oz. of gold and 61.6 million oz. of silver. The measured and indicated sulphide resource also contains 0.1% lead and 0.3% zinc.
Camino Rojo is Orla’s first producing mine. It also has advanced the Cerro Quema gold project in Panama to the advanced exploration stage for which it has produced a pre-feasibility study.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
