Equinox Gold's Greenstone Mine Announces Commercial Production
Equinox Gold's Greenstone Mine Announces
Commercial Production
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 6, 2024) -
Equinox Gold Corp.
(TSX: EQX)
(NYSE American: EQX) ("Equinox Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that based on the
operating progress achieved through October, its Greenstone Mine in Ontario, Canada has reached
commercial production.
Greg Smith, President & CEO of Equinox Gold, commented: "With the Greenstone Mine continuing to
ramp up and generating positive operating cash flow, we are pleased to announce commercial
production at our newest and largest gold mine. This milestone marks the culmination of three years of
construction and commissioning, accomplished during the challenges of a global pandemic, supply
chain disruptions, and inflationary pressures. I extend my thanks and congratulations to the Greenstone
team for their dedication and perseverance in achieving this milestone."
During Q3, the Greenstone Mine processed an average of 14,300 tonnes per day ("tpd"), representing
53% of design throughput, producing 42,400 ounces of gold at an average recovery rate of 79% and a
cash cost of US$930 per ounce. The average throughput during the quarter includes three multi-day
shutdowns to address issues identified during the ramp-up process. Throughput steadily increased
through October and, as of November 5th, the trailing 20-day throughput averaged over 20,400 tpd,
representing 76% of design. The crushing and grinding circuits have demonstrated operation at the full
production rate of 27,000 tpd (crushing over 32,000 tpd, milling over 27,000 tpd). Gold recovery has
reached daily highs over 90% and averaged 78% through October. The current focus is on increasing
plant availability and recoveries.
At full production, the Greenstone Mine will be one of Canada's largest and highest-grade open-pit gold
mines, producing on average 390,000 ounces of gold per year for the first five years and 330,000
ounces of gold annually for an initial 15-year mine life.
ABOUT EQUINOX GOLD
Equinox Gold is a growth-focused Canadian mining company with seven operating gold mines and a
path to achieve more than one million ounces of annual gold production from a pipeline of expansion
projects. Equinox Gold's common shares are listed on the TSX and the NYSE American under the
trading symbol EQX. Further information about Equinox Gold's portfolio of assets and long-term growth
strategy is available at
www.equinoxgold.com
or by email at
.
EQUINOX GOLD CONTACTS
Greg Smith, President & Chief Executive Officer
Rhylin Bailie, Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: +1 604-558-0560
Email:
Cautionary Notes & Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within
the meaning of applicable securities legislation and may include future-oriented financial information
(collectively "Forward-looking Information"). Forward-looking Information in this news release relates
to, among other things: the Company's expectations for the operation of Greenstone, including future
financial or operating performance; and anticipated improvements in recovery rates, mining rates,
and throughput to achieve design capacity. Forward-looking Information is generally identified by the
use of the words "will", "target", "focus", "ramping up", "achieve", "increase", "plan", "continue", and
similar expressions and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "could", "would"
or "should", or the negative connotation of such terms, are intended to identify Forward-looking
Information. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such Forward-looking
Information is reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on Forward-looking Information since
the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The Company
has based Forward-looking Information on the Company's current expectations and projections about
future events and these assumptions include: the Company’s expectations for the operation of
Greenstone, including future financial or operating performance and anticipated improvements in
recovery rates, mining rates and throughput to achieve design capacity;
the Company's ability to
achieve its production, cost and development expectations for Greenstone; no unplanned delays or
interruptions in scheduled production; that ore grades and recoveries remain consistent with
expectations; that tonnage of ore to be mined and processed remains consistent with expectations;
the ability of Equinox Gold to work productively with its Indigenous partners at Greenstone; no labour-
related disruptions; that all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals are received in a
timely manner; and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and
other regulatory requirements. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable
based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Accordingly, readers are
cautioned not to put undue reliance on the Forward-looking Information contained in this news
release.
The Company cautions that Forward-looking Information involves known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such Forward-looking Information contained in this news release
and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these
factors. Such factors include, without limitation: fluctuations in gold prices; fluctuations in prices for
energy inputs, labour, materials, supplies and services; operational risks and hazards inherent with
the business of mining (including environmental accidents and hazards, geotechnical failures,
industrial accidents, equipment breakdown, unusual or unexpected geological or structural
formations, cave-ins, flooding, fires, and severe weather); inadequate insurance, or inability to obtain
insurance to cover these risks and hazards; labour relations; relationships with, and claims by, local
communities and Indigenous partners; the Company's ability to obtain all necessary permits, licenses
and regulatory approvals in a timely manner or at all; changes in laws, regulations and government
practices, including environmental laws and regulations; legal restrictions relating to mining;
increased competition in the mining industry; and those factors identified in the section titled "Risks
and Uncertainties" in Equinox Gold's MD&A dated February 21, 2024 and in the section titled "Risks
Related to the Business" in Equinox Gold's most recently filed Annual Information Form, both of which
are available on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar. Forward-looking
Information is designed to help readers understand management's views as of that time with respect
to future events and speak only as of the date they are made. Except as required by applicable law,
Equinox Gold assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to
any Forward-looking Information contained or incorporated by reference to reflect actual results, future
events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the Forward-
looking Information. If Equinox Gold updates any Forward-looking Information, no inference should be
drawn that Equinox Gold will make additional updates with respect to that or any other Forward-looking
Information. All Forward-looking Information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by
this cautionary statement.
Non IFRS Measures.
This news release refers to cash costs which measure has no standardized
meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other
companies. Their measurement and presentation is consistently prepared and is intended to provide
additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of
performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Cash Costs and Cash Costs per oz sold is a
common financial performance measure in the gold mining industry; however, it has no standard
meaning under IFRS. The measure is not necessarily indicative of cash flow from operations under
IFRS or operating costs presented under IFRS.
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https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/229115