Key Facts
| Location | Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua |
| Mine Type | Open Pit and under-ground potential |
| Metals mined | Au, Ag |
| Employees/Contractors | 265/197 |
| Deposit Type | Orogenic – High grade Au, shallow dipping 1-2m wide stacked veins |
| Ownership | 100% |
| Resources and Reserves |
Outlook
San Albino, Nicaragua’s newest high-grade gold mine, is a high-margin open pit operation. Based on a measured and indicated pit resource grade of 9.54 g/t Au, the project is one of the highest-grade surface mines in the world.
Our strategy is to consolidate a low-cost, cornerstone operation at San Albino– an area that only represents ~2% of our landholdings
Cash flow from San Albino is funding exploration on the district-scale Nicaraguan land package of ~188 sq. km
Operating Data
| Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 | ||
| Tonnes Mined | Tonnes | 49,780 | 47,220 |
| Strip Ratio *Strip ratio includes pre-striping and accelerated waste development prior to the start of rainy season in May. |
Waste/tonnes | 30.5 | 26.5 |
| Tonnes Milled | Tonnes | 46,869 | 49,332 |
| Tonnes per day | Tpd | 596 (87% availability) | 589 (92% availability) |
| Au Grade | Gr/Tonne | 7.2 | 7.30 |
| Au Recovery | % | 85.6% | 74.5% |
| Gold Production | Oz. | 9,280 | 8,630 |
| Total Cash Costs | US$/Oz. Au sold | 862 | TBD |
| All sustaining cash cost (“AISC”) | US$/Oz. Au sold | 1,104 | TBD |
Geology and Mineralization
Mineralization at San Albino appears consistent with the orogenic gold deposit model: this deposit type is ultimately traced back to orogenesis (collisional plate tectonics). Orogenic deposits tend to occur on a district scale and are one of the largest deposit types in terms of gold endowment, tend to be high-grade and typically occur in clusters.
The gold-bearing veins at the project formed over a period of deformation, with alteration indicating a low degree of metamorphism. This metamorphism, together with thrust fault control suggests a high-level orogenic deposit at San Albino, analogous to Kinross’ (TSX: KGC; NYSE: K) Paracatu gold mine in Brazil.
Gold at San Albino is hosted in west-dipping quartz veins within shear (higher-strain) zones. The shear zones are typically stacked in a subparallel fashion, creating vein systems.
Exploration
History & Milestones
- Permit to construct and operate (up to 500tpd) received September 2017 (announced Sep 12, 2017)
- Positive metallurgical test results at San Albino with optimized overall gold recoveries ranging from 86.1 to 96.9% (announced Dec 13, 2019)
- Permit amendment to process up to 1,000tpd received August 2020 (announced August 24, 2020)
- Mining of first four benches containing vein material at San Albino yields 7,734 oz Au at a diluted grade of 17.45 g/t Au (announced Apr 19, 2021)
- Construction completed with commercial production declared effective July 1, 2021 (announced Jul 13, 2021)
Reserves & Resources
Photo Gallery
San Albino Deposit
