Minera Alamos begins construction of Santana mine

Minera Alamos has started construction of its Santana open-pit heap leach mine in Sonora state and expects to transition from a developer to gold producer this year. “This is a big year for us,” Doug Ramshaw, the company’s president, tells The Northern Miner. “There’s probably only going to be six or seven new gold producers this year, which is a pretty exclusive club we’re going to join so it’s going to be an exciting year.” Between now and the start of production, the company will release a maiden resource on the project. “The Santana gold project does not have a completed feasibility study or technical report, however, results from the 50,000 tonne bulk heap-leach test completed between 2018 and 2019 were positive and management built the Castillo mine in Mexico in the same fashion,” Kerry Smith of Haywood Securities said in a research note. “For 2020 we model 15,000 ounces of production in a partial year, followed by 35,000 oz. in 2021 with all-in sustaining costs of ~US$800 per ounce.” Continue reading at The Northern Miner.