Castle Mountain reaches commercial production for Equinox

In its first, 12,7000 t/d phase, Castle Mountain will churn out approximately 40,000 gold oz. annually. The miner is looking at an expansion of this asset, which could grow its output to 200,000 oz. a year – a feasibility study is expected in the first quarter of next year. This study will look at a 41,000 t/d run-of-mine heap leach, in addition to a carbon-in-leach milling circuit for higher-grade material.

“Achieving commercial production at Castle Mountain is an important step for what will ultimately be a long-life 200,000 ounce per year gold mine, bringing significant benefits to local communities, the State of California and Equinox Gold’s shareholders,” Christian Milau, Equinox Gold’s CEO, said in a release.

With Castle Mountain, Equinox holds seven operating mines in the Americas. In the third quarter, the company sold 128,437 oz. of gold, at all-in sustaining costs of $1,035 per ounce.