Equinox dialogue with communities on Mexico gold mine 'going very well'

Vancouver-based Equinox Gold said the dialogue with three communities surrounding its Los Filos mine in Guerrero state to reach agreements that may define the future of its Mexican operations “is going very well.”

“We have continued our dialogue with our community partners on new agreements. And these agreements are so that we can ensure long-term economic viability and stability for the Los Filos mine,” COO Doug Reddy said during the company’s Q1 results conference call. 

“The dialogue is going very well. Obviously, we have overall timing when it comes to operating the mine, as we've said efficiently, given that heap leach is not the way to go, we want to transition over to CIL [carbon-in-leach]”, Reddy said. 

“But in regards to the specifics of timing and everything, I think that's something that I can't really get into because that's part of the dialogue. It is a conversation… it's driven by working together jointly on this,” he added.

When asked about the risk of shutting down the operation this year, Reddy said the company has a mine plan for Los Filos through 2024.

In February, Equinox said it may indefinitely suspend its operations at Los Filos if new agreements with local communities on a long-term development plan for the gold mine are not reached. 

One year earlier, the miner reported that it was working on strengthening relations with communities surrounding Los Filos after postponing a decision to build a CIL plant until at least 2024 due to the continued risk of blockades, among other reasons.

Equinox released in October 2022 the results of an updated feasibility study for the 10,000t/d CIL plant, which is intended to boost average output at the mine to 280,000oz/y from less than 200,000oz/y.

However, the expansion has yet to be approved after a temporary community blockade of the facility in September of the same year. 

In 1Q24, Equinox produced 111,725oz of gold, 9% down from a year earlier. At Los Filos, production was 24,000oz of gold with all-in sustaining costs of US$2,424/oz, “but this should be better in H2,” Reddy said. 

In 2024, the company forecasts 660,000-750,000oz of gold production.