TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mexico-focused gold producer Goldgroup Mining this week announced that it had produced 285 oz of gold from the initial gold production in December from its Cerro Prieto heap-leach gold/silver/lead/zinc project mine, located in Sonora state, Mexico.

The TSX-listed company also on Thursday said that the Cerro Colorado mine, located in the same state, continued to leach gold despite the operation having wound down and the equipment and personnel having been transferred from there to the Cerro Prieto project. Leaching was expected to continue well into 2014.

"We have now successfully completed the Phase 1 development of the Cerro Prieto mine and are now beginning to produce gold. We are impressed with the Cerro Prieto production thus far as it has met target levels of recovery of gold in the amount of time that we have been leaching. Coming off a corrective year in 2013 for the gold sector, we are optimistic about the fundamentals for gold, as well as Goldgroup's prospects into 2014 and beyond,” Goldgroup chairperson, president and CEO Keith Piggott said.

The company stressed that it was not basing its production decision on a preliminary economic assessment demonstrating the potential viability of mineral resources, or a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability at Cerro Prieto, and as a result there is increased uncertainty and multiple technical and economic risks which were associated with this production decision.

The Cerro Prieto project encompasses mineral concessions totalling about 7 000 ha and contains about 17.5 km of strike length of the mineralised structure hosting the current resource.

The company acquired the Cerro Prieto project last year through a $18-million deal in which it acquired TSX-V-listed Oroco Resource Corporation.