Sacre-Coeur Minerals produced, sold 756.6 troy ounces of gold

Canadian junior miner Sacre-Coeur Minerals (CVE:SCM) has reported Tuesday year to date alluvial gold production figures in the vicinity of Million Mountain, in Guyana.

The news shot its stock up by 22.22 per cent to reach 11 cents each on the TSX Venture Exchange on Tuesday afternoon trade.

The Vancouver-based miner said it produced and sold 756.6 troy ounces of gold from its alluvial mining program for the year to date.

Alluvial gold can be found in soil and sediment deposits. These deposits are usually found around rivers, streams, or any other sort of running water.

Its production reflects the output from 28 calendar weeks of operation, as work did not resume after a year-end shut down until the week of January 22, the company said.

During the 28-week operating period, Sacre-Coeur said mining operations experienced total availability of 62 per cent. This includes set-ups and mechanical interruptions for 121.5 production days.

The company noted alluvial operations continue to improve significantly. For the month of July, it had produced 233.6 troy ounces gold and sold with an operating availability of 64 per cent.

Meanwhile, due to process improvements and a good “pay zone” August production so far has risen to 30 ounces in two days.

Average gold prices were $1,637 per ounces, with an average purity of gold sold at 95.6 per cent. The company has made $1.20 million in sales to date.

All gold produced by the company is sold to the Guyana Gold Board.

Operating costs totalled $497,000, or $656.90 per ounces produced and sold for the 28 week.

“We are very pleased that our alluvial operations have continued to improve over time to now become a significant and reliable contributor of working capital,” the company said in a statement.

“With achievement of demonstrated production and cost performance from the company’s initial single production unit, we can now proceed to pursue our principal goal of near term hard-rock gold production.”

Sacre-Coeur is a junior miner focused on gold properties in Guyana. It holds a 100 per cent stake in 978 square kilometres of mineral concession.

It is now exploring for hard-rock gold resources along the 20 km Million Mountain structural trend that includes the Million Mountain Zone 1, with 451,000 troy ounces of gold.