Aura achieves commercial production at Borborema

Aura Minerals (TSE: ORA; Nasdaq: AUGO) says it has achieved commercial production at its Borborema gold project, its third operating asset in Brazil and fifth globally.

In a news release Tuesday, Aura confirmed the milestone was reached on time and budget, having started production ramp-up earlier this year. The Borborema mill is operating above 80% of the design capacity, processing 4,500 tonnes per day, with recoveries consistently above 90% and ranging up to 92%, the company said.

“We are proud to announce commercial production at the Borborema mine, six months after startup, after 19 months of construction, and with no lost time incidents,” Rodrigo Barbosa, Aura’s president and CEO, said in a release.

Shares in Aura Minerals gained 10¢ apiece in Toronto to close at $48.52 apiece on Tuesday for market capitalization of $4 billion. The stock hit an intraday high of US$35.43 each in New York — its highest since debuting on the Nasdaq in July.

Second-largest asset

The Borborema open-pit mine — located in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state, in the municipality of Currais Novos — is expected to become Aura’s second-largest gold producer, the company said.

According to a feasibility study from August 2023, the Borborema project is anticipated to produce 748,000 oz. of gold over an 11.3-year mine life, with possibilities for even greater output after relocating a road that crosses a portion of the deposit.

Barbosa noted that on the upside, the deposit has 812,000 oz. in reserves plus an additional 1.18 million oz. in measured and indicated resources that could be converted, providing for “higher returns and increased reserves.”

High return

The project is expected to deliver an after-tax internal rate of return of 42% on an unleveraged basis, based on a gold price of $2,600 per oz., based on the the study’s calculations. Its after-tax net present value is pegged at US$182 million.

Borborema now becomes Aura’s third operating mine in Brazil, after the Almas and Apoena mines located in Tocantins and Mato Grosso, respectively. Based on expected production, Borborema would be its biggest in the country, with annual production reaching as high as 83,000 oz. during the initial three years.

Currently, Aura’s biggest operating asset is the Aranzazu mine in Mexico, an underground copper mine that also produces gold and silver as by-products. In 2025, it is expected to deliver 88,000 to 97,000 oz. of gold-equivalent production.