Record gold grades for Aguia at Colombian mining play - SMH.com.au

AI desk brief

Aguia Resources posted record August production at its Santa Barbara gold mine in Colombia, delivering 942g of gold at a grade above 10g/t, more than double the prior best month of 468g at 5g/t. The month generated A$171,000 in revenue, while a third-party processing trial with the Colombian Mint returned 637.4g of payable gold from 15.05g/t head grade plus 1,226.8g of payable silver, with Aguia receiving 90% of recovered gold after a US$65/t processing charge.

Management says the step-up reflects tighter grade control, lower dilution and more selective mining, with run-of-mine ore now consistently above 10g/t and plant feed peaking at 20.4g/t. The company is targeting a staged increase from 100 tonnes to 200 tonnes per month over the next 90-120 days, while first-half capex, opex and overheads were cut 80%, 56% and 38% respectively versus the prior six months.