Luca Mining's Tahuehueto to double throughput
Luca Mining's objective is to achieve an installed capacity of 1,000 tpd by the end of this year and to announce commercial production in first quarter of 2024. First phase production levels are expected to reach over 40,000 ounces gold equivalent per year.
Construction Status
A second ball mill for the mine expansion has passed through all upgrades and inspections and is now on site and placed into the supporting structure. This second mill has a larger capacity and once commissioned the mine's installed capacity will be 1,250 tpd. Ancillary equipment (cyclones, pumps etc.) will be delivered to site before mid-October. Testing of the new mill is planned for late-November and, if successful, ramp-up will commence shortly after.
The flotation and concentrate filtration circuits already have an installed capacity of 1,000 tpd. A second tailings filter press, with a nominal capacity of 500 tpd, will be transported to site within a week. The foundations for this press are completed. The third (back-up) tailings filter press has been secured and is undergoing inspections and refurbishments prior to shipping to site.
Construction of the second stage of the tailings embankment is currently 56% complete and progressing well. Mike Struthers, CEO of Luca Mining, commented: "The team at Tahuehueto, including our contractors and senior management, have done a great job in maintaining construction progress, pushing towards our 1,000 tpd goal, and we are on track to achieve this by year-end. We plan to be testing the second mill by late-November, and if successful we should be able to start ramping up to 1,000 tpd shortly afterwards. We are very close now to delivering Tahuehueto as the next, new profitable gold mine in Mexico."
Prolific potential
Luca Mining Corp. is a Canadian based mining company with two 100% owned Mexican gold, silver, and base metal mining projects. Its Tahuehueto Mine is an underground gold project in Mexico, sitting within the prolific Sierra Madre Mineral Belt which hosts numerous producing and historic mines along its trend. Tahuehueto is on track to become a significant gold mine and one of Mexico's newest to come into production. The pre-feasibility Study updated in 2022 contemplates an operation achieving 40,000 ounces gold-equivalent per year production. The Tahuehueto project is located in the northwest portion of the state of Durango, about 250 km northwest of Durango, the state capital, and 160 km northeast of the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa. The project is located about 25 km north of the Topia polymetallic-silver mine, 40km northwest of the La Cienega gold, silver, base metal mine, 85km southwest of the Guanacevi silver district, 280 km southeast of the Palmarejo silver and gold mine, and 150 km northwest of the San Dimas mining district, most notable for the Tayoltita silver and gold mine. The project is approximately centered on UTM coordinates (WGS 84 Zone 13 for México) 337366m E and 2812659m N (106°37’1 longitude west and 25°25’19 latitude north).
The nearest sizeable community to the project area is Tepehuanes, which is located approximately 175km by road east of the property and has a population of approximately 15,000. A 34.5 kv power line and telephone service extends as far as Tepehuanes; diesel generators presently supply power to the project site.