Aura Minerals said production at its Almas open-pit gold mine in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, has commenced. The mine and plant are currently in operation and the miner expects to achieve commercial production by July.
“We have hit a major milestone in our company history today with the start of production of our first ever greenfield project completed in only 16 months and expected Capex of approximately US$78 million, with no material deviation from the project budget, despite challenges related to procurement, the pandemic and inflationary pressures,” said President and CEO Rodrigo Barbosa.
“We invested approximately 50,000 hours on training and have 57% of direct labor hired from the local communities, which we expect to further increase during the ramp-up of the operation and next year.”
Aura anticipates 2023 production at Almas to be between 25,000 and 30,000 ounces of gold.
Source: Aura Minerals