VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Oct. 26, 2011) - Timmins Gold Corp. (TSX:TMM) is pleased to report preliminary production results for the second quarter ended September 30, 2011 of 17,287 gold ounces and 9,055 silver ounces. The Company sold 16,917 gold ounces during the quarter.
Preliminary Production Statistics:
| Category |
July-Sept
2011 |
July-Sept
2010 |
| Ore Mined (Dry tonnes) |
2,030,977 |
1,090,768 |
| Average Grade (g/t Au) |
0.650 |
0.817 |
| Ore Processed (Dry tonnes) |
1,364,290 |
1,090,768 |
| Average Grade (g/t) |
0.804 |
0.817 |
| Waste Mined |
5,097,293 |
3,878,015 |
| Total Mined (tonnes) |
7,128,270 |
4,968,783 |
| Strip Ratio |
2.51 |
3.60 |
| Gold ounces Sold |
16,917 |
15,682 |
| Days |
92 |
92 |
| Average Ore Mined (t/d) |
22,076 |
11,856 |
| Average Ore Processed (t/d) |
14,829 |
11,856 |
| Total Mined (t/d) |
77,474 |
54,009 |
During the quarter, the Company was unable to apply the optimum solution flow of cyanide to the heap leach pads due to an industry wide shortage of cyanide. The Company currently has a sufficient supply of cyanide, and has since increased the concentration of cyanide and solution flow rates to the heap leach pads. The Company has seen improvements in production rates during October, and expects to see continued production improvements compared to the quarter ended September 30, 2011.
During the quarter, the Company completed the construction of a new crusher module. The last part of the crusher expansion is to replace the existing screen and feeder with a new larger screen and feeder in the coming weeks, which will allow the Company to maintain consistent crusher throughput rates of 18,000 tonnes of ore per day. Production from the open pit has consistently exceeded 18,000 tonnes per day of ore. Ore mined but not currently processed is being stockpiled for future processing.
In addition to the crusher expansion the Company has acquired an additional 700 hectares of land for expansion of the operations at the La Chicharra pit located approximately 1.5 km from the San Francisco pit. Further, from July 1, 2011 to date Timmins Gold has completed in excess of 92,000 metres of drilling which will be incorporated along with future drilling to be completed by the end of 2011, in an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report. The report is scheduled to be published in the first quarter of 2012.
Drill results prior to July 1, 2011 will be the subject of an NI 43-101 Technical Report being prepared by MICON International Ltd. which will be published on or before November 4, 2011. This report will also include the new mine plan and updated cash costs.
About Timmins Gold
Focused solely in Mexico, Timmins Gold Corp. is in commercial gold production at its wholly owned San Francisco gold mine in Sonora, Mexico. The mine is an open pit heap leach operation. Timmins Gold has forecast production at a rate in excess of 100,000 ounces of gold per year. (Micon International NI 43-101F1 Technical Report dated November, 2010).
