Equinox Gold said that it has wrapped up the construction of phase 1 of its Castle Mountain Gold Mine in California.

According to the Canadian gold mining company, irrigation of the leach pad is in progress and first gold pour from Castle Mountain Gold Mine phase 1 is expected to be achieved in the fourth quarter of this year.

Equinox Gold said that it began pre-production mining in early June and so far has stacked over 1.4 million tonnes of ore on the leach pad.

The miner revealed that the commissioning of the plant is in the last stages and irrigation of the leach pad began on 16 September 2020.

Equinox Gold said that loaded carbon from the Castle Mountain Gold Mine will be processed in the carbon stripping and smelting plant at its Mesquite Mine, located 200 miles south in California, which will lead to increased operating efficiencies for both the gold mines.

Equinox Gold began full-scale construction of Castle Mountain Gold Mine phase 1 in October 2019.

Christian Milau – CEO of Equinox Gold said: “Castle Mountain will be Equinox Gold’s seventh producing gold mine in the Americas and our second operating mine in California. We expect Castle Mountain to be a long-life flagship asset for Equinox Gold, bringing significant benefits to our workforce, shareholders, local communities and San Bernardino County.”

The Castle Mountain mine is a past producing heap leach gold mine, which was acquired by the Canadian gold miner in late 2017 following the acquisition of NewCastle Gold.

Phase 1 of the gold mine is expected to yield 45,000 oz/year, said Equinox Gold, which is planning phase 2 of the project to ramp up production to 203,000 oz/year.

The Canadian gold mining company is expected to wrap up a feasibility study for the potential phase 2 expansion in the fourth quarter of 2020.

  California, Castle Mountain mine, Christian Milau, Equinox Gold, Mesquite Mine, USA