Mako Mining Provides Q3 2023 Production Results
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595 Burrard Street, Suite 2833
Vancouver, BC V7X 1K8
Tel: (604) 646-1580
www.makominingcorp.com
TSX-V: MKO | OTCQX: MAKOF
Suite 700 - 838 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC - V6C 0A6
IR: (647) 203-8793
www.makominingcorp.com
TSX-V: MKO | OTCQX: MAKOF
October 24th, 2023
TSX-V: MKO; OTCQX: MAKOF
Mako Mining Provides Q3 2023 Production Results
Mako Mining Corp. (TSX-V: MKO; OTCQX: MAKOF) (“Mako” or the “ Company”) is pleased to provide
third quarter 2023 (“Q3 2023”) production results from its San Albino gold mine (“San Albino”) in northern
Nicaragua, which is the ninth full quarter of production results since declaring commercial production on
July 1, 2021. Financial results for Q3 2023, including detailed reporting of our operating costs, are expected
to be released by next month.
Q3 2023 Production Highlights
• 47,732 tonnes mined containing 11,047 ounces of gold (“oz Au”) at a blended grade of 7.20
grams per tonne gold (“g/t Au”) and 13,931 ounces of silver (“oz Ag”) at a grade of 9.08
grams per tonne silver (“g/t Ag”)
o 26,982 tonnes mined containing 9,153 oz Au at 10.55 g/t Au and 11,209 oz Ag at 12.92 g/t
Ag from diluted vein material
o 20,749 tonnes mined containing 1,894 oz Au at 2.84 g/t Au and 2,722 oz Ag at 4.08 g/t Ag
from historical dump and other mineralized material above cutoff grade (“ historical dump
+ other”)
o 23.2:1 strip ratio overall which includes pre-stripping of the Southwest Pit and the
commencement of the bulk sample at San Pablo and Mina Francisco
• 51,578 tonnes milled containing 10,997 oz Au at a blended grade of 6.63 g/t Au and 14,782
oz Ag at 8.91 g/t Ag
o 44% and 56% from diluted vein and historical dump and other, respectively
o 598 tonnes per day (“tpd”) milled at 94% availability
o Recoveries of 77.4% for gold in Q3 2023 (85.5% from September 1st)
• 134,608 tonnes in stockpile containing 10,379 oz Au at a blended grade of 2.40 g/t Au
• 8,601 oz Au Equiv. recovered and 5,698 oz Au. Equiv. sold during the quarter due to a
temporary delay in third party refining which was resolved in October . 2,234 finished
product inventory as of Sep 30th, 2023.
Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer of Mako states that, “Since August 14 th, after permits to begin
mining Las Conchitas were received, and bulk sample mining was fully ramped up at Las Conchitas, the
mine has been operating at record levels. September was an all -time record of 3,817 ounces recovered,
and October is on pace to significantly exceed this. There was a substantial amount of unsold gold held in
inventory at quarter end due to a temporary third -party refining issue, which will introduce some noise
around our Cash Cost, Total Cost and AISC report ing when we report our Q3 financials next month.
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However, all of this unsold gold was liquidated last week at recent high gold prices, which will not only
reverse this effect on reported costs for Q4, but the performance of the plant and mine will also le ad to
record Q4 financial results.”
Table 1 – Production Results
* Includes historical dump, hanging wall, footwall, historical muck and all other non-vein mineralized material above cutoff grade.
**For the purpose of calculating revenue, payments to Sailfish are deducted from the Average Realized Price.
(1) Equiv. Gold ounces are calculated by: Silver Rec. or Silver Sold (oz) / Avg. Realized Price of Gold (US$/oz) / Avg. Realized Price of Silver
(US$/oz)
Units Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023
Mined
Diluted Vein
Tonnes t 23,103 18,029 21,490 26,982
Gold Grade g/t 10.15 9.68 9.18 10.55
Silver Grade g/t 14.50 10.73 12.70 12.92
Contained Gold oz 7,543 5,611 6,344 9,153
Contained Silver oz 10,768 6,219 8,778 11,209
Historical Dump + Other*
Tonnes t 27,790 29,210 19,666 20,749
Gold Grade g/t 2.74 2.62 2.74 2.84
Silver Grade g/t 6.63 5.09 5.47 4.08
Contained Gold oz 2,447 2,461 1,735 1,894
Contained Silver oz 5,924 4,782 3,460 2,722
Waste
Tonnes t 1,467,739 1,713,743 1,526,980 1,106,412
Strip Ratio Total 28.8 36.3 37.1 23.2
Milled
Diluted Vein % 57% 38% 37% 44%
Historical Dump + Other* % 43% 62% 63% 56%
Tonnes t 49,204 49,675 54,284 51,578
Gold Grade g/t 7.55 6.34 5.25 6.63
Siver Grade g/t 14.70 4.93 8.09 8.91
Contained Gold oz 11,937 10,119 9,157 10,997
Contained Silver oz 23,260 7,869 14,125 14,782
Mill Availability % 95% 94% 95% 94%
Average Tonnes per Day t/day 563 587 627 598
Recovered
Gold Recovery % 82.8% 82.5% 71.8% 77.4%
Gold Recovered oz 9,882 8,347 6,563 8,506
Gold Equiv. Recovered (1) oz 10,091 8,374 6,653 8,601
Gold Sold oz 9,956 8,721 6,726 5,606
Gold Equiv. Sold (1) oz 10,084 8,820 6,801 5,698
Silver Credits oz 9,955 9,328 6,030 7,693
Avg. Realized Price Gold ** US$/oz 1,726 1,886 1,978 1,930
Avg. Realized Price Silver US$/oz 22 20 25 23
w:o
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Table 2 – Quarter End Stockpile Statistics
* Includes stockpiles of mineralized material at the crusher.
** Includes historical dump, hanging wall, footwall, historical muck and all other non-vein mineralized material above cutoff grade.
Mining
The mine averaged 5 19 tpd of diluted vein and historical dump + other material in Q 3 2023 with a strip
ratio of 23.2:1 which included pre-stripping of the Southwest Pit and the commencement of the bulk sample
at San Pablo and Mina Francisco. The current stockpile is 134,608 tonnes containing 10,389 oz Au at 2.40
g/t Au.
79% of the total production of diluted vein material in Q3 2023 was mined from Phase 3 of the West Pit,
1% from the Southwest Pit, and 20% from Las Conchitas (San Pablo and Mina Francisco ), respectively.
We expect to begin extracting the high-grade diluted vein material from Bayacun and Dolores located at
Las Conchitas South later this quarter. Las Conchitas South is considered to be the best part of Las
Conchitas with a relatively low strip ratio and higher than average grades. A maiden resource estimate for
Las Conchitas will be available in the coming weeks.
The average grade of the diluted vein was 10.55 g/t Au during the quarter . In the first half of the quarter,
the Company didn’t have access to initial production from the Las Conchitas bulk sample. After obtaining
permits to begin mining this area, average grades extracted from the mine improved , and the quality of
material extracted significantly reduced the amount of preg-robbing material reporting to the griding facility,
which significantly improved the process plant recovery.
Milling
All components of the 500 tpd gravity and carbon -in-leach processing plant have been fully operational
since the beginning of May 2021. During Q3 2023 the plant throughput rate was 598 tpd with a plant
availability of 94%. The plant processed 44% diluted vein material and 56% historical dump + other material
Units Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023
Diluted Vein*
Tonnes t 0 0 0 0
Gold Grade g/t 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Contained Gold oz 0 0 0 0
Historical Dump + Other**
Tonnes t 146,560 151,582 138,454 134,608
Gold Grade g/t 2.24 2.34 2.32 2.40
Contained Gold oz 10,554 11,416 10,339 10,389
Total
Tonnes t 146,560 151,582 138,454 134,608
Gold Grade g/t 2.24 2.34 2.32 2.40
Contained Gold oz 10,554 11,416 10,339 10,389
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to achieve a blended feed grade of 6.63 g/t Au. The gold recovery improved from 71.8% in Q2 to 77.4% in
Q3 (and 85.5% in September) due to enhanced residence time, reduced mill throughput, higher gold grade,
and a reduction in the preg -robbing potential of the mill feed once material from Las Conchitas was
available.
In the second half of Q3, tonnage from test pits from Las Conchitas began producing mill feed. The
percentage of Las Conchitas in the overall mill feed is expected to increase during Q4. The early tonnage
from Las Conchitas will primarily be oxide material with relatively low preg -robbing carbon which will
contribute to an expected gold recovery improvement during Q4 compared to Q2 and Q3.
Temporarily delay from 3rd party refinery
Prior to the receipt of Las Conchitas mining permits, when the mill was operating with a 35% diluted vein
material blend instead of the 50% diluted vein material blend, the Company had lower than planned head
grades and higher than planned preg-robbing material, which led to lower gold production.
In addition, the locations in the pit mined during the quarter contained significantly higher deleterious
elements than the overall deposit average resulting in much higher concentrations of these elements in
the dore bars. Deleterious element content in the mined material is expected to return to deposit averages
in the upcoming months.
In addition to minor penalties from the Company’s third-party refiner, the high concentration of deleterious
elements led to a 13-day delay in our gold sales process. This, in part, led to a 2,900 oz. difference between
gold ounces recovered and gold ounces sold during the quarter. These ounces were sold later in October,
and due to improvements in head grades and the normalization of the elution circuit , we no longer face
this issue.
Since the Company reports Cash Cost, Total Cost and AISC based on gold ounces sold and not gold
ounces recovered, this will have a negative impact on these accounting costs during Q3 , and a positive
impact on these accounting costs in Q4 relative to what they would have otherwise been. Serendipitously,
because of this delay, the Company benefited from higher gold prices which were almost US$ 100 higher
than where these ounces would have otherwise been sold.
Qualified Person
John Rust, a metallurgical engineer and qualified person (as defined under NI 43 -101) has read and
approved the technical information contained in this press release. Mr. Rust is a senior metallurgist and a
consultant to the Company.
On behalf of the Board,
Akiba Leisman
Chief Executive Officer
About Mako
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Mako Mining Corp. is a publicly listed gold mining, development and exploration company. The Company
operates the high -grade San Albino gold mine in Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua, which ranks as one of the
highest-grade open pit gold mines globally. Mako’s primary objective is to operate San Albino profitably
and fund exploration of prospective targets on its district-scale land package.
For further information: Mako Mining Corp., Akiba Leisman, Chief Executive Officer, Telephone: 203-862-
7059, E -mail: [email protected] or visit our website at www.makominingcorp.com and
SEDAR www.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking Information: Statements contained herein, other than historical fact, may be considered “forward-
looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward -looking information contained
herein is based on the Company’s plans and certain expectations and assumptions, including that Q3, 2023 detailed
operating costs and financial results will be available by the end of this month; the additional optimizations noted may
improve recoveries further; and that the Company can operate San Albino profitably in order to fund exploration of
prospective targets on its district-scale land package. Such forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks
and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward -
looking information, including, without limitation; that the Company is not successful in operating San Albino profitably
and/or funding its exploration of prospectus targets on its district-scale land package; political risks and uncertainties
involving the Company’s exploration properties; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for
unexpected costs and expense; commodity price fluctuations and other risks and uncertainties as disclosed i n the
Company’s public disclosure filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Such information contained herein represents
management’s best judgment as of the date hereof, based on information currently available and is included for the
purposes of providing inves tors with the Company’s expectations regarding the Company’s Q3 2023 production
results at San Albino gold project, and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Mako does not undertake to update
any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.