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Penny Taylor
Aguia Resources has rung the till at its Santa Barbara gold project in Colombia, with record September production covering local corporate and operating costs for the first time to give its high-grade underground strategy some early financial bite.
The 100 per cent-owned operation produced 36.75 ounces of gold from 105 dry tonnes of run-of-mine ore, generating gross revenue of A$218,000. The result edged past August’s previous record of 32 ounces and shows what a small, high-grade operation can deliver when throughput is lifted.
The ore averaged 10.88 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, with the most recent batch assessed at 12.75g/t. All September material went to the Quintana Processing Plant in Remedios, Antioquia, a third-party facility owned by Colombian Mint, where it yielded 1143.07 grams of gold and 2124 grams of payable silver.
Under its agreement with Colombian Mint, Aguia receives 90 per cent of the recovered gold, less a processing charge of US$65 (A$91) per tonne. The arrangement allows the company to focus on underground, lifting ore extraction while the Colombian Mint handles processing to deliver improved recoveries and returns. Revenue was calculated using a gold price of US$4135 (A$5900) per troy ounce.
‘Today’s results have enabled us, for the first time, to cover our operating and overhead costs in Colombia.’
Aguia Resources managing director and chief executive officer Timothy Hosking
Aguia’s achievement comes with gold trading near record highs, hovering around US$4100 per troy ounce (A$5900), with the strong pricing backdrop adding a further lift.
Santa Barbara sits on the northern tip of the Serranía de San Lucas in Colombia’s Bolívar district, in what the company describes as the country’s “richest gold belt”. It is a high-grade mesothermal gold vein system, meaning its gold-bearing veins formed from hot fluids deep within the Earth. Miners must follow the narrow veins closely and limit waste rock entering the ore stream, since dilution can quickly drag down the grade sent for processing.
Aguia Resources managing director and chief executive officer Timothy Hosking said: “Although volumes are still modest at ~ 37 ounces of gold produced, the grade and recoveries achieved clearly demonstrate the potential value that can be realised from a scaled-up operation. Today’s results have enabled us, for the first time, to cover our operating and overhead costs in Colombia.”
With an eye on growth, Aguia’s immediate focus is doubling output from 100 tonnes a month to more than 200 tonnes before the first quarter of 2027. Additional mining equipment is being used to develop three shafts below the main levels of Veins No. 1 and No. 2, the project’s main gold-bearing structures.
While newly installed extraction fans will improve ventilation, reaching cash-flow breakeven has allowed Aguia to trim the fat by reducing its mine workforce by 15 per cent during the month. The company is also working to restart exploration and define a mineral resource estimate.
Management says the 320-hectare project still has plenty of blue sky, with much of the ground untouched by modern exploration. Adding some historical intrigue, earlier operators processed a 500-tonne bulk sample at head grades above 24g/t – impressive numbers that provide geological context rather than a current resource or guide to present production.
For Aguia, Santa Barbara is one half of a South American operating story that also includes phosphate assets in Brazil, where the company has been building towards commercial sales from its phosphate projects. The gold mine’s first month standing on its own two feet gives the Colombian business a new base as it scales.
Attention could soon swing back to Brazil, with management expecting to update shareholders on its Brazilian phosphate assets next week. Sales are already materialising from stockpiled phosphate material and operations are continuing, potentially giving Aguia a second source of operating revenue alongside its growing Colombian gold business.
Having proven it can mine profitably at a small scale, the next test is whether more underground access can turn a 37-ounce record into a repeatable climb in output. Aguia has the gear moving and the gold grade to make the next step count.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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