Luca Mining announced that its wholly-owned Tahuehueto Gold Mine is in the final commissioning stage and increased throughput at the Tahuehueto mill to 1,000 tonnes per day.
Also, the Canadian mining company appointed Peter Damouni to its Board of Directors.
Tahuehueto gold mine is a new underground operation in Durango State, Mexico, within the Sierra Madre Mineral Belt which hosts numerous producing and historic mines along its trend.
Luca said that the testing of the second ball mill, which was the last component in the project, is well advanced and will provide a total installed grinding capacity of 1,250 tonnes per day (tpd).
Also, the testing of the final equipment to complete the construction of the 1,000tpd operation is almost complete.
The company installed a new vibrating screen in the crushing circuit to further improve the availability of the crusher system.
The final alignment and testing of the second 750tpd ball mill is anticipated to be completed in mid-February, providing an installed grinding capacity of 1,250tpd.
The upgrades will ensure an actual production rate of 1,000tpd, with a planned routine maintenance downtime every month.
The other important parts of the project include the second tailings press filter, which is already in operation and working in parallel with the first press filter.
Once the second mill is commissioned, the production is expected to progressively ramp up to 35,000 to 40,000oz gold equivalent per year.
The Canadian mining company expects its operations to start generating cash flows in 2024.
Luca Mining CEO Mike Struthers said: “Our team at Tahuehueto continues to push hard to commission the 1,000tpd project at the mine. Once the second mill is commissioned, the installed grinding capacity of 1,250tpd will provide valuable flexibility.
“These are very exciting times for Luca and its shareholders. The next few months will feature the achievement of a number of significant milestones that shareholders have been looking forward to since we completed our major financing and reorganization mid 2023.
“In particular, Luca will bring a brand-new gold mine into commercial production and with the mine optimization plan being implemented at Campo Morado we have already experienced significant cash flow improvements, which we intend to publicize on a regular basis.”
“Having worked closely with Peter in the past, I’m very pleased to have Peter join the Luca team. He brings considerable markets, finance and corporate experience which will open new opportunities for Luca as we continue to realise our goals for 2024 and beyond.”
