TSX-V: MKO; OTCQX: MAKOF
VANCOUVER, BC, July 5th,
2022 /CNW/ - Mako Mining Corp. (TSXV: MKO)
(OTCQX: MAKOF) ("Mako" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an
update on its first anniversary since declaring commercial
production at its San Albino mine in Northern Nicaragua. All $ references in this
press release are expressed in United
States dollars.
Akiba Leisman, CEO of Mako states
that "this past year has been transformative for the Company.
Mako has now been in commercial production for 1 year. Since that
time, the Company has profitably produced in excess of 36,000
ounces of gold, reached nameplate capacity of 500 tpd in December
of last year, invested over $6
million in growth exploration, repaid approximately
$10 million in principal, and began a
capital return program to shareholders. This has set the stage for
an expansion of our operations to 1,000 tpd, while beginning a
$17.2 million exploration program
which has already led to additional discoveries on our property. We
are especially proud that our resource model has positively
reconciled by over 10% in terms of Au ounces despite 28% of the
material mined being from the inferred category. There are still
aspects of the mine and plant that need further optimization, which
are currently being addressed, but the first year of commercial
production has been a success, and our team should be proud of
their accomplishments."
A detailed operating update for Q2 2022 will be released later
in July. Having just finished Q2 2022, some of the production
statistics below are estimates as they have not been fully
reconciled. Additional details and commentary will also be made
available in that forthcoming update.
First Year Recap
Mining – Over the past 12 months of mining, the
grade of the diluted vein has averaged greater than 16 g/t Au, and
blended with historical dump and other material, mining has been
able to deliver over 500 tonnes per day of greater than 7.5 g/t Au
to the mill.
The resource model is proving to be excellent, with mine
reconciliation being positive 10.5% during this period in term of
Au ounces. The comparable material from the mineral resource
estimate prepared by Mine Development Associates, a division of
RESPEC, out of Reno, Nevada was
categorized as 42% measured, 30% indicated and 28% inferred
material.
A technical report for the mineral resource is available
under the Company's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com and is also available on the Company's
website at www.makominingcorp.com (see press
release dated October 19,
2020)
The processes and procedures our team have implemented for grade
control have been outstanding. Mining dilution is generally kept to
levels below 30 cm on either side of the vein. Furthermore, as we
are now mining more difficult material to process, our ability to
selectively mine is a benefit as we can sample, separate and
stockpile difficult to process material. Fortunately, the material
that has been more difficult to process tends to be from the
foot-wall and hanging-wall of the vein rather than the high-grade
vein itself.
Processing – The mill throughput was fully
debottlenecked beginning in December
2021, after a series of adjustments were made to the plant,
and as our employees became fully trained. The processing facility
has been operating at above nameplate capacity of 500 tpd since
late last year.
The plant transitioned to almost exclusively fresh material in
March of this year. The fresh material contains naturally occurring
carbon which can interfere with the gold recovery process.
Eliminating free cyanide in the grinding circuit and only adding
cyanide to the slurry in the CIL is essential in order to achieve
optimal recoveries. Reducing cyanide concentrations from recycled
water to optimal levels required a change in reagents. We were
previously using the standard INCO/SO2 process (sodium
metabisulfite and copper sulfate) but the results weren`t
consistent and reliable. To adjust, we are now detoxing with sodium
hypochlorite (common bleach), but the logistics needed to obtain
necessary quantities will take some time to develop. Additionally,
there are minor plant modifications being implemented to automate
the detoxification process that will require de minimis levels of
additional capex which are expected to be completed in Q3 2022.
Despite these challenges, the Company sold just over 9,000
ounces of gold for the quarter, similar to the last 2 quarters.
In the meantime, we have developed robust sampling mechanisms
and processes to make sure particularly problematic material is
kept away from the mill as well as other initiatives such as: i)
blending stockpiled oxide material from historical waste dumps to
the mill feed, ii) increasing carbon to CIL tanks to reduce metal
loss, iii) regenerating carbon more frequently, iv) making minor
adjustments to the Knelson concentrator to increase capacity and
availability of our gravity circuit.
The mill head grade has averaged greater than 7.5 g/t Au for the
past year, ranking San Albino amongst the highest-grade open pit
operations in the world. To the extent possible, high-grade
material was deferred until the middle of June while some of the
metallurgical issues were addressed; however, head grades have
exceeded 10 g/t Au since June
16th, 2022.
Our tailings are filtered and stacked dry (at approximately 18%
moisture) and stored on a geomembrane-lined tailings storage
facility ("TSF"). There is no discharge of water throughout our
facility. Compaction of the tails at our TSF is better than
planned, which bodes well for the life of mine capacity of the TSF.
Rainy season commenced in May, and the various water management
systems we've implemented have been working above specifications.
Mako is the only company in Nicaragua that uses a dry-stack TSF, and we
are especially proud of our environmental stewardship at San
Albino.
Exploration results continue to be strong and justified
the expansion of our exploration program to $17.2 million (see press release dated
March 9, 2022) which we expect to
spend over the next 18 months.
The Company recently announced a new discovery at Las Conchitas
North (see press release dated June 1,
2022) and expanded the area around the San Albino SW Pit
from 50m x 50m to 530m x
470m (see press release dated
June 21, 2022).
At Las Conchitas, we expanded the Mango Zone to 213m down dip by intersecting 138.29 g/t over
1.3m estimated true width (see press
release dated March 17, 2022) and
demonstrated up to 850m of strike
potential at Las Conchitas with drilling (see press release dated
August 18, 2021).
Regionally, channel sampling at La Segoviana has yielded up to
105.7 g/t over 1.5m estimated true
width (see press release dated March 24,
2022), and drilling for the first time in history has
commenced at Potrerillos.
Safety and Health – The Company views safety as a
cornerstone of our operations. We have made significant investments
in safety training and facilities. Mako didn't register any lost
time accidents this past year.
COVID still poses some challenges; however, our protocols and
corrective measures avoided production slowdowns even during 2021
when the impact of the pandemic was more severe. Mako registered
195 positive cases in the past 12 months and 88.4% of our employees
are vaccinated.
Community & Permits – We are very fortunate to
have a community that supports responsible mining. Mako is heavily
invested in improving the community in which we operate,
contributing to infrastructure projects such as bridges and road
maintenance, and supporting institutions such as the local police
and schools. Mako also prioritizes local employment, with 97% of
our workforce from Nicaragua and
70% from the local Nueva Segovia region. Over the past year, two
separate community consultations passed with unanimous consent,
which led to the approval of our regional Potrerillos and La
Segoviana drilling permits. Over the course of the next 6-9 months,
we expect to receive additional permits to begin mining at Las
Conchitas and develop the associated infrastructure (e.g. roads,
waste dumps, etc.) in order to justify the expansion of our plant
to 1,000 tpd for which we received an expansion permit in 2021.
Financial – Over the past 12 months approximately
$10 million of principal has been
repaid to Wexford and Sailfish and 1.4 million shares have been
repurchased. The last equity raise the Company did was nearly 2
years ago (see press releases dated June
26 and July 17, 2020) and no
additional debt capital has been raised since February 2021 (see press release dated
February 22, 2021)
1.
Operating cash flow from the mine has allowed us to spend over
$6 million on growth exploration
since declaring commercial production, and to commence a
$17.2 million exploration program
beginning in March.
|
1 The $6.4m debt
facility raised on February 22, 2021, from Nebari Natural Resources
Credit Fund was subsequently refinanced by a $8m gold loan from
Sailfish Royalty Corp (see press release dated August 30, 2021).
100% of the gold loan was used to repay debt: $6.4m to Nebari and
$1.6m to Wexford. The $1.6m repaid to Wexford as part of this
refinancing is in addition to the $10m of principal repayments made
to Wexford and Sailfish over the past 12 months.
|
Qualified Person
John Rust, a metallurgical
engineer, and qualified person (as defined under NI 43-101) has
read and approved the technical information contained in this press
release with the exception of the mine reconciliation figures. Mr.
Rust is a senior metallurgist and a consultant to the Company.
John M. Kowalchuk, P.Geo, a
geologist and qualified person (as defined under National
Instrument 43-101) has read and approved the mine reconciliation
figures contained in this press release. Mr. Kowalchuk is a senior
geologist and a consultant to the Company.
On behalf of the Board,
Akiba
Leisman
CEO
About Mako
Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development
and exploration company. The Company operates the high-grade San
Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the
highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako's primary
objective is to operate San Albino profitably and fund exploration
of prospective targets on its district-scale land package.
Visit our website at www.makominingcorp.com and
SEDAR www.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking
Information:
Statements contained herein, other than historical fact, may
be considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information
contained herein is based on the Company's reasonable assumptions
and current plans and expectations, and forward-looking statements
contained herein include, without limitation, that a detailed
operating update for Q2 2022 will be released later in July; that
minor plant modifications being implemented to automate the
detoxification process are expected to be completed in Q3 2022;
that over the course of the next 6-9 months, we expect to receive
additional permits to begin mining at Las Conchitas and develop the
associated infrastructure (e.g. roads, waste dumps, etc.) in order
to justify the expansion of our plant to 1,000 tpd; and that
the Company can operate San Albino profitably in order to fund
exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land
package. Such forward-looking information is subject to a variety
of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those reflected in the
forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the
risk that the estimated production statistics do not prove to be
accurate; the ongoing results of the Company's drilling
programs do not produce the positive results expected; the minor
plant modifications are not completed on the timeline expected;
that the Company does not obtain the necessary additional permits
to begin mining at Las Conchitas and development the associated
infrastructure on the timeline expected or at all; political risks
and uncertainties involving the Company's exploration properties;
the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for
unexpected costs and expense; commodity price fluctuations and
other risks and uncertainties as disclosed in the Company's public
disclosure filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such information
contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the
date hereof, based on information currently available and is
included for the purposes of providing investors with the Company's
expectations regarding the Company's operations, financial health
and proposed exploration programs, and may not be appropriate for
other purposes. Mako does not undertake to update any
forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE Mako Mining Corp.