Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) has delivered the first ore cargo from its Eastern Borosi open pit mine to its Libertad processing plant in central Nicaragua.
In April, the company began mining from the high-grade Guapinol open pit with a reserve grade of 6.8 g/t gold and ore deliveries to the Libertad mill started mid-May after launching operations earlier in the month.
“The development of Eastern Borosi marks another significant milestone for the company which will positively contribute to our grade-driven production growth as we reaffirm our 2023 guidance of 250,000 to 275,000 ounces,” CEO Darren Hall said in a statement on Tuesday.
Company stock stayed flat on Tuesday at $1.53 on the Canadian Securities Exchange.
The Eastern Borosi land package covers an area of 176 square kilometres and includes both open pit and underground resources. The known resources within the package include Riscos de Oro, East Dome, Blag, La Luna and the currently operational Guapinol/Vancouver open pit mine.
These deposits consist of several gold-silver vein systems characterized by low sulphidation. At present, Eastern Borosi has an indicated mineral resource of 1 million tonnes with an average gold grade of 8.48 g/t, totalling 281,000 ounces of contained gold.
Highlights of the Eastern Borosi infill drill program included:
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12.9 g/t Au over 8.5 metres Estimated True Width (ETW) including 23.30 g/t Au over 1.6 metres ETW and 35.50 g/t Au over 1.24 metres ETW in Hole BL-23-097.
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10.61 g/t Au over 7.2 metres ETW including 27.47 g/t Au over 2.3 metres ETW in Hole BL-23-099.
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7.1 g/t Au over 5.0 metres ETW including 14.75 g/t Au over 2.3 metres in Hole BL-23-102.
Read more: Calibre reports high-grade results from Talavera deposit in Nicaragua
Read more: Calibre Mining’s discoveries at Eastern Borosi hold promise for extended lifespan
La Libertad gold processing facility. Photo via Calibre Mining.
La Libertad treats ore from several mines nearby
The La Libertad gold processing facility can process about 2.25 million tonnes of ore per year. Currently, it is recovering 94-95 per cent of the gold from a mixture of ore from exhausted mines (spent ore) and ore mined directly from the mine site (run-of-mine ore).
The processing plant gets ore from various sources and ore is trucked from the Limon and Pavon mines. It also comes from the Jabali underground mine located near the processing plant.
The processing plant treats a large amount of ore from different mines near the plant and recovers most of the gold. Mining at some of the deposits has been completed in the past while mining continues at other sites and additional old mines are slated to be restarted. A combination of underground and open-pit methods is used at the mines that feed the processing plant.
The Jabali underground mine uses a mining method called long-hole stoping where ore is extracted from bottom to top and the empty space is filled in with loose rock and soil as the mining progresses upwards. In the future, it plans to restart mining at the historic Jabali Antenna and San Antonio open-pit mines located next to the plant.
This month, the company reported high-grade results from the Talavera Deposit in the Limon Mine including 10.22 g/t Au over 4.2 metres.
Talavera is situated to the west of the primary El Limon trend and mill. It’s a former underground mining region that witnessed significant production in the 1990s, yielding approximately 800,000 ounces of high-grade, low-sulphidation gold. This mining area shows potential for further resource expansion along parallel veins.
Talavera’s highlights included:
- 10.22 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) over 4.2 metres, including 15.25 g/t Au over two metres, 15.46 g/t Au over 6.7 metres, including 18.09 g/t Au over 5.7 metres, and 10.58 g/t Au over 7.9 metres, including 15.18 g/t Au over 2.9 metres in hole LIM-22-4688
- 3.89 g/t Au over 2.5 metres, including 5.85 g/t Au over 1.5 metres, 4.45 g/t Au over 20.9 metres, including 8.09 g/t Au over 5.4 metres and 6.69 g/t Au over 3.5 metres, and 9.31 g/t Au over 3.1 metres in hole LIM-22-4677
- 3.92 g/t Au over 3.6 metres in hole LIM-22-4673
- 4.10 g/t Au over 4.2 metres in hole LIM-22-4721
On May 24, Calibre had its Time Out for Safety event of 2023 which focused on effective methods to evaluate risks associated with process and activity change. Photo via Calibre Mining.
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