Cerrado Gold (TSXV: CERT) lifted third quarter output at its Minera Don Nicolas operation in Argentina by 21% from a year earlier, as a shift of high grade ore to its mill more than doubled production from the plant.
The operation produced 16,685 gold equivalent ounces in the three months ended September 30, up from 13,832 ounces in the same period of 2025. Sales totalled 16,187 gold equivalent ounces at an average realized price of US$4,256 per ounce.
Most of the gain came from the carbon-in-leach circuit. Production from the Martinetas mill climbed to 7,036 gold equivalent ounces from 3,403 a year earlier after the company routed selected Calandrias material grading above 2.5 g/t gold to the plant instead of stacking it on the heap leach pad. The mill processed 101,000 tonnes at 1,093 tonnes per day, with head grade rising to 2.29 g/t gold from 1.31 g/t and gold recovery holding at 90%.
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Heap leach output was roughly flat against the second quarter at 9,649 gold equivalent ounces, though down from 10,429 ounces a year ago. The pad received 905,000 tonnes at 9,945 tonnes per day grading 0.89 g/t gold. Gold recovery slipped to 33% from 39% in the prior quarter and 47% a year earlier, a decline that coincided with the company adding lower grade material to the heap leach feed on the back of higher gold prices.
Year to date production reached 44,942 gold equivalent ounces, up 23% from the first nine months of 2025. Cerrado now expects to finish at the top end of its 2026 guidance of 50,000 to 60,000 ounces, helped by additional underground feed from beneath the Paloma pit in the fourth quarter.
“We continue to generate strong cash flows that support our key growth initiatives to extend mine life and increase production as we move forward,” said CEO and Chairman Mark Brennan.
That growth is expected to be laid out in a new preliminary economic assessment targeted for late in the first quarter of 2027, which will incorporate drilling at the recently acquired Falcon and Calandrias II properties. A new heap leach pad adding 12 million tonnes of capacity is slated for completion on the same timeline.
Cerrado Gold last traded at $2.27 on the TSX.
