Canada’s Lundin Gold (TSX:LUG) has exported first gold concentrate and doré bars from its Fruta del Norte mine in Ecuador, the country’s only large scale operation.
About 180 tonnes of gold concentrate, left the Port of Guayaquil on Dec.8, the company said. The miner also shipped on Thursday its first doré bars to a refinery in Switzerland.
Full production at Fruta del Norte is expected in the second quarter of 2020.
The Vancouver-based company said that commissioning of the
process plant was in its final stages, with full production expected to be
achieved in the second quarter of 2020.
Lundin Gold, worth almost C$1.5 billion in Toronto, has been
developing the asset for almost two years, following a 2016 agreement with Ecuador’s government that allowed it to
move ahead with the project.
The company acquired the project in 2015 for $240
million from fellow Canadian miner Kinross Gold (TSX:K)
(NYSE:KGC), which had to halt operations after being unable to reach an
agreement with authorities regarding the terms for developing the
asset.
The underground gold and silver mine, which will be
Ecuador’s largest, contains six of Lundin’s 29 mining concessions and covers
70,000 hectares of land. Discovered in 2006, Fruta del Norte is expected to
produce 4.6 million ounces of gold over a 15 year mine life.