Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/134727
MINI NG Luna Gold continues to deliver on its promises by Patrick Moore Which company tops your list of gold producers? Many gold analysts would put Luna Gold Corp. [LGC-TSX] at the top of that list. Their reasoning is that Luna Gold has a good deposit, operation, and management team, and few surprises. This Vancouver-based company has a gold mining operation, the Aurizona Gold Mine, in northeast Brazil, plus a large, strategically placed, exploration property, the Luna Greenfields Project in nearby Maranhão, consisting of all company exploration permits located outside the Aurizona Main area, totalling some 190,000 hectares. Luna produced over 74,000 ounces of gold during 2012. At the end of the year, in its 2013 guidance report, the company stated that it expected the Aurizona Mine to produce between 95,000 oz and 105,000 oz of gold in 2013 at an average cash cost of between $705/oz and $715/oz. On April 11, Luna announced production of 17,203 ounces of gold during the first quarter 2013, exceeding the company`s previous quarterly guidance of 15,000 to 16,000 ounces. Full year 2013 production guidance remains unchanged. An anticipated completion of Phase I of the operation's expansion during the fourth quarter of the year is aimed to further increase Aurizona's production run rate to an equivalent of 125 000 oz/y during the fourth quarter. As promised, Luna recently released an update showing measured and indicated resources now total 3.63 million ounces, a 15% increase from the mine's December 2011 resource update. Aurizona's inferred mineral resources are now 1.04 million ounces, a 44% increase from the December 2011 resource update. 28 www.resourceworld.com Luna Gold's Aurizona gold mine in northeast Brazil. Photo courtesy Luna Gold Corp. The update incorporates results from an additional 6,933 metres drilled at the Piaba deposit and 7,478 metres drilled at the Boa Esperança, Ferradura and Conceição deposits throughout 2012. A pit optimization exercise was also conducted for the Tatajuba deposit. Measured and indicated gold resources now total 82 million tonnes at 1.38 grams gold/tonne, or 3.63 million ounces gold. Inferred gold resources now total 18.5 million tonnes at 1.74 gold/ tonne, or 1.04 million ounces gold. "This year is poised to be a major year in Luna's development, as we anticipate not only several significant milestones at our Aurizona property but also the formal continuation of drilling at Luna Greenfields, which we believe has the potential to produce several gold deposits," said John Blake, President and CEO. And so far at least, the Luna team has been delivering on their promises. n Patrick (Paddy) Moore is a multi-media journalist who specializes in the resource industry. He is a frequent contributor to Resource World magazine and Creative Director of BTV: Business Television on BNN. More about Moore at www.mooremedia.ca JUNE 2013