Latin America-focused Leagold has announced an increase in the proven and probable mineral reserves at the Los Filos openpit, in Mexico, to 40.5-million tonnes, grading 0.60 g/t containing 780 000 oz.
This represents a 122% increase over the December 2017 estimate of 351 000 oz.
After accounting for mining depletion of 99 000 oz from January 1 to October 31, the total addition to the Los Filos openpit proven and probable reserves is 528 000 oz.
Leagold says the reserve update does not reflect changes to the Bermejal openpit or Los Filos underground mining areas, or potential additions from the Bermejal underground deposit.
“As we are nearing the completion of our site-wide studies on options for Los Filos mine expansion, the integration and scheduling of the mining and processing of the four sources of ore is a complex task to optimise. We now have the good problem of rescheduling to include this significant increase in gold reserves at the Los Filos openpit, which will contribute to the production schedule until 2027,” comments CEO Neil Woodyer.
He adds that this is just a component of the expanded Los Filos mine, and it provides an indication of the expansion potential.
“We are also completing studies to update the mineral reserves for Los Filos underground and Bermejal openpit, establish an initial mineral reserve for Bermejal underground, and evaluate the increased benefits of constructing a carbon-in-leach plant to improve recovery rates.”