Luca Mining has announced the completion of construction at its Tahuehueto gold mine, marking a significant milestone for the company’s operations in Durango State, Mexico.

The mine, which is fully permitted and designed for an underground operation, is expected to have a processing capacity of 1,000tpd.

It has been producing on a pre-production basis for several months.

Covering an area of 121km² in a region with less than 10% of its prospective terrain explored, the Tahuehueto gold mine completion was achieved within budget, the company said.

The company is now focusing on ramping up processing rates to commercial levels, expected by the end of September 2024.

Luca Mining has enhanced its Tahuehueto operations with the installation of a third filter press, facilitating the transition to dry stack tailings.

The upgrade is expected to enable the mine to reach and potentially exceed the targeted commercial production rate of 800tpd.

Furthermore, the company is investing in underground development and resource drilling.

The planned drilling programme aims to explore new zones with substantial mining widths, with the potential to expand the Tahuehueto resource and strengthen Luca Mining’s asset portfolio.

Luca Mining CEO Dan Barnholden said: “We are extremely pleased with our progress at the Tahuehueto Gold Mine. Processing rates are currently averaging 450tpd and we expect to steadily increase over the coming weeks to reach commercial production in September 2024. Tahuehueto is set to become the second cornerstone asset at Luca.

“We are ultimately targeting at least 50,000oz Au Eq (gold equivalent) annual production from this mine. We are also excited about encountering new high-grade gold zones with significant mineable widths, as recently announced, through our normal course development work. We expect to start exploring these zones from underground in the upcoming months.”