
Atico Mining Corporation (TSX.V: ATY) (OTCQX: ATCMF) announces its operating results for the three months ended June 30, 2023 from its El Roble mine. Production for the quarter totaled 2.80 million pounds of copper and 2,294 ounces of gold in concentrates, a decrease of 22% for copper and 18% for gold, over the same period in 2022.
“The El Roble mine continued to show improvement for the period in terms of both processed tones and increase in head grades over the previous quarter. The processing plant is again reaching steady state levels of 900 tonnes per day while the mine continues to transition back into higher grade areas. We anticipate further improvement in overall production results and metal output for the second half of the year,” said Fernando E. Ganoza, CEO. “For the remainder of the year we will continue our strong focus towards mine vicinity exploration at the El Roble mine, looking to build on the success of the recent drill results in the historic areas of the deposit.”
Second Quarter Operational Highlights
Second Quarter Operational Details
Q2 2023 Total | Q2 2022 Total | % Change | |||||
Production (Contained in Concentrates) | |||||||
Copper (000s pounds) | 2,804 | 3,591 | -22% | ||||
Gold (ounces) | 2,294 | 2,811 | -18% | ||||
Mine | |||||||
Tonnes of ore mined | 72,340 | 61,667 | 17% | ||||
Mill | |||||||
Tonnes processed | 68,471 | 56,172 | 22% | ||||
Tonnes processed per day | 800 | 889 | -10% | ||||
Copper grade (%) | 2.04 | 3.17 | -36% | ||||
Gold grade (g/t) | 1.78 | 2.47 | -28% | ||||
Recoveries | |||||||
Copper (%) | 91.1 | 91.4 | Nil | ||||
Gold (%) | 58.7 | 62.9 | -7% | ||||
Concentrates | |||||||
Copper and Gold Concentrates (dmt) | 6,784 | 8,278 | -18% | ||||
Payable copper produced (000s lbs) | 2,639 | 3,411 | -23% |
Note: Metal production figures are subject to adjustments based on final settlement. The reported results are preliminary in nature and are awaiting independent lab verification.
Concentrate Inventory
The number of shipments the Company can export in any given quarter depends on several variables some of which the Company does not control, hence there may be an inherent variability in tonnes shipped quarter to quarter.
Q2 2023 Total | |||
Amounts in dry metric tonnes | |||
Opening inventory | 6,647 | ||
Production | 6,784 | ||
Sales | (6,597 | ) | |
Number of shipments | 1 | ||
Adjustment | 20 | ||
Closing inventory | 6,854 |
Note: Concentrate figures are subject to adjustments based on final settlement.
El Roble Mine
The El Roble mine is a high grade, underground copper and gold mine with nominal processing plant capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day, located in the Department of Choco in Colombia. Its commercial product is a copper-gold concentrate.
Since obtaining control of the mine on November 22, 2013, Atico has upgraded the operation from a historical nominal capacity of 400 tonnes per day.
El Roble has Proven and Probable reserves of 1.00 million tonnes grading 3.02% copper and 1.76 g/t gold, at a cut-off grade of 1.3% copper equivalent as of September 30th, 2020. Mineralization is open at depth and along strike and the Company plans to further test the limits of the deposit.
On the larger land package, the Company has identified a prospective stratigraphic contact between volcanic rocks and black and grey pelagic sediments and cherts that has been traced by Atico geologists for ten kilometers. This contact has been determined to be an important control on VMS mineralization on which Atico has identified numerous target areas prospective for VMS type mineralization occurrence, which is the focus of the current surface drill program at El Roble.
Qualified Person
Mr. Thomas Kelly (SME Registered Member 1696580), advisor to the Company and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 standards, is responsible for ensuring that the technical information contained in this news release is an accurate summary of the original reports and data provided to or developed by Atico.
About Atico Mining Corporation
Atico is a growth-oriented Company, focused on exploring, developing and mining copper and gold projects in Latin America. The Company generates significant cash flow through the operation of the El Roble mine and is developing its high-grade La Plata VMS project in Ecuador. The Company is also pursuing additional acquisition of advanced stage opportunities.
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