TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Junior Timmins Gold expects to pour its first gold and silver dore bars in the next few weeks at the company's new San Francisco mine, in Sonora, Mexico.

The gold plant is now operational and gold is being extracted from the pregnant solution, the company reported on Wednesday.

Once steady state operations begin, each dore bar will comprise about 80% gold and 20% silver by content.

Timmins also announced it has signed a three-and-a-half-year mining contract with Spain's Peal de Mexico, which will provide both mining equipment and workers for operations.

Peal's mining fleet  - mainly new equipment that will deliver ore and waste at an average of 45 000 t/d – is being mobilised and is expected on site by the end of November.

At the moment, Timmins Gold is continuing initial operations with the available shovel and trucks until the full mining fleet arrives.

More than 100 000 t of ore have been stacked on the heap leach pads and gold leaching has begun.

Shares in Timmins Gold rose 6,7% on the TSX Venture Exchange on Wednesday morning, to C$1,12 apiece by 10:53 in Toronto.