Canadian mining company Equinox Gold said that its 100% owned Aurizona Gold Mine in the Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil has achieved commercial production, as per the latest mining industry news.

This was after the Brazilian gold mine had its first gold pour in mid-May. The Aurizona Gold Mine was operated between 2010 and 2015, after which the mining and processing operations were ceased to leave it under care and maintenance.

In January 2018, Equinox Gold sanctioned full-scale construction on the Brazilian gold mine with an investment of $146 million. Being a past-producing gold mine, the Aurizona Gold Mine was already equipped with significant existing infrastructure, which meant that the construction was wrapped up quickly at a low initial capital to build an 8,000 tonnes per day processing plant to yield on average 136,000 ounces of gold per annum.

Equinox Gold said that the Aurizona processing plant, during the month of June, operated at an average throughput of around 90% of its nameplate capacity, crossing 90% average recovery and produced over 7,000 ounces of gold.

The Canadian mining company said that production from the Brazilian gold mine is likely to continue to grow through the third and fourth quarters of this year, with average life-of-mine production expected to be 136,000 ounces per year.

Commenting on the Aurizona Gold Mine production milestone, Christian Milau – CEO of Equinox Gold said: “Achieving commercial production at Aurizona is a significant milestone, making Equinox Gold a multi-mine producer and bringing us one step closer to our near-term target of having three mines in production in 2020. We are pleased that Aurizona is ramping up quickly and thank our team, contractors and stakeholders in Brazil for their hard work and support.”

Equinox Gold said that having achieved commercial production at the Aurizona Gold Mine, the final condition as per the previously announced corporate revolving credit facility has been wrapped up and the remaining $30 million of the total $130 million has been made available to it.

The Canadian mining company, which was renamed from  Trek Mining, merged with Luna Gold in February 2017 to become the owner of the Aurizona Gold Mine.

Last year, Equinox Gold signed a deal to acquire the Mesquite gold mine in California for $158 million from New Gold. Equinox Gold acquisition of Mesquite gold mine can be read here.

  Aurizona Gold Mine, Brazil, Christian Milau, Equinox Gold, Maranhão