The newly christened Greenstone Gold mine has reached the commercial production stage.
Vancouver’s Equinox Gold bases that on the progress made in October as the open-pit mine, south of the town of Geraldton, continues to ramp up production and is generating positive cash flow.
The pit had a ceremonial opening in late August. The first gold pour was in May.
During the company’s fiscal third quarter, Greenstone averaged 14,300 tonnes per day of production, 53 per cent of its designed capacity. Throughout has been steadily increasing through October, Equinox said, to the point where on Nov. 5 the mine was averaging 20,000 tonnes per day over a 20-day period, 76 per cent of what it's capable of producing.
Greenstone produced 42,400 ounces of gold during the quarter at a recovery rate of 79 per cent and at a cash cost of US$930 per ounce.
When Greenstone hits its stride, Equinox said the northwestern Ontario operation will be one of Canada’s largest and highest-grade open pit mines, producing 390,000 ounces for the first five years of its 15-year operating life before levelling off 330,000 ounces a year.
During the production ramp-up, Equinox said there were multiple shutdowns to iron out the startup bugs in the process.
Last month, Equinox lowered the annual gold target for Greenstone – known as production guidance – from between 175,000 and 205,000 ounces to 110,000 to 130,000 ounces.
“This milestone marks the culmination of three years of construction and commissioning, accomplished during the challenges of a global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and inflationary pressures,” said Equinox Gold president-CEO Greg Smith, who extended congratulations to the Greenstone team, in a statement.
Overall, Smith commented on Equinox’s “best-ever third-quarter production and all-time highest quarterly revenue,” due to strong gold prices and progress made at Greenstone in its mining and processing rates.
With Greenstone in the fold, Equinox Gold now operates seven gold mines, one in California, one in Mexico and four in Brazil.
