Located in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, Almas is an open-pit gold mine estimated to produce an aggregate of 51,000 ounces of gold annually, during the first four years of the project, for an estimated life of mine of 17 years
Aura begins operations at Almas Mine. (Credit: Alex Banner from Pixabay)
Gold and copper mining company Aura Minerals has commenced production at its Almas Mine and associated plant, with plans to achieve commercial production by July this year.
Located in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, Almas is an open-pit gold mine wholly owned by Aura and is the first greenfield project constructed by the company.
Aura estimates an average annualised production of 51,000 ounces of gold during the first four years of the project, with an estimated life of mine of 17 years.
According to its guidance announced in February this year, the company expects Almas to produce between 25,000 and 30,000 ounces of gold this year.
Aura Minerals president and CEO Rodrigo Barbosa said: “We have hit a major milestone in our Company history today with the start of production of our first ever greenfield project completed in only 16 months and expected Capex of approximately $78m.
“Our strategy of focusing on simple and scalable projects that are easy to build and easy to operate under the highest ESG standards, which we call Aura 360, is paying off.”
Aura is a mid-tier gold and copper production company focused on the development and operation of gold and base metal projects in the Americas.
The company has four producing assets, the San Andres gold mine in Honduras, the EPP and the Almas gold mines in Brazil and the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico.
In addition, it operates the Tolda Fria gold project in Colombia and four projects in Brazil, including Borborema, Matupá, São Francisco, and Serra da Estrela projects.
Barbosa added: “We invested approximately 50 thousand hours on training and have 57% of direct labour hired from the local communities which we expect to further increase during the ramp-up of the operation and next year.
“We look forward to providing additional updates as we achieve commercial production and begin sales at Almas and completing the ongoing Borborema Feasibility study with construction anticipated to commence by the end of this semester.
“With Almas online, we expect to deliver value not only to our shareholders but contribute to the economic growth of the region.”