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Otso Gold (TSXV: OTSO) has restarted production and completed the first gold pour at its namesake mine operation located near the town of Raahe in central Finland.
The restart of production and the gold pour is the culmination of the completion of all the preparatory works and the hiring and training of over 140 full-time staff now on site with a further 128 contractors retained to provide permanent services to the mine, the company said in a news release.
Otso said it is currently processing approximately 4,000 tonnes of ore a day and blasting ore in mining areas four times a week, as it ramps up towards name plate capacity of 6,000 tonnes of ore a day.
The company expects to sell the first gold dore from the site over the next week.
The Otso gold mine is a fully permitted, open-cut operation with a 2 million tonne per annum gold processing facility.
The current mine plan indicates a target grade of 1.54 g/t, 6000 tonnes per day and a strip ratio of 3.26:1, as confirmed by a technical report released in August 2021.
A full economics and growth strategy will be included in the feasibility due Q3 2021. Target production is 90,000 ounces and an overall plant efficiency of 92%.
During the past month, the company has completed 6,000 metres of grade control reverse circulation drilling to underpin detailed mine planning.
Shares of Otso Gold gained 6.6% by 12:20 p.m. EDT Thursday, continuing its rally from the previous trading day.
The emerging gold miner has a market capitalization of C$72.3 million ($58m).
