Altiplano Reports Q4 2023 Operational Results at Farellon with Improved Cu Grade and Output

Altiplano Metals is a growing gold, silver, and copper company focused on the Americas. The Company has a diversified portfolio of assets that include an operating copper/gold/iron mine and a state-of-the-art operating copper/gold and iron processing facility in the final stages

Altiplano Metals Inc. has reported on Q4 2023 operation results from the Farellon Copper-Gold-Iron (Cu-Au-Fe) mine located near La Serena, Chile. 

The Company extracted a total of 9,114 tonnes of mineralized Cu-Au material and processed 8,125 tonnes during Q4 2023 at Farellon. This represents a 12% and 13.6% increase respectively from the Q3 production and processing figures. Mine production in Q4 represented the highest quarterly production over the 2024-year period. Copper grade improved in Q4 to 1.87% representing an 8.7% increase from the 1.72% Cu recovered in Q3. Sales of 325,328 pounds of copper in 2023 Q4 generated approximately US$798,919 in revenue (after processing costs), an increase of 25% over the $639,458 revenue figure received in Q3 - an increase related mainly to processing higher Cu grade material.

Waste removal decreased 52% to 1,221 tonnes in Q4 2023 as the new 336 m operating level was reached.  Work on the advance to the next level at 328m began in late November and is expected to be intersected in April. Level 328 m will bring an additional production level, with mining planned on drifts to the NE and SW direction.

President and CEO Alastair McIntyre comments: “In the last two years, Farellon has produced and sold on average approximately 300,000 pounds of copper per quarter and we are pleased to see that we closed out in Q4 2023 well above that average. Copper grades in Q4 also came in above our overall 1.8% average at 1.87%, which is an excellent achievement considering global grades of copper average 0.5% copper. Production increases and recovery of high-grade copper, combined with the benefits of the reduction in processing and transportation costs at the El Peñón processing plan, will drive the operation success at APN in 2024.”

At the end of December 2023, the Company had 540 tonnes in stockpiles at the Farellon site and a total of 1,555 tonnes of stockpiles at the El Peñón mill site. An additional 8,381 tonnes of lower-grade material are stockpiled at Farellon site and ready to be shipped for processing at the El Peñón facility over the next several months. This stockpile will be blended with newly mined material to optimize processing efficiencies. In addition, the Company currently has 1,314 tonnes of material in process with third party processors. This material will be processed for copper sales and the revenue will be realized in the coming months.

Figure 1.  Quarterly Review of US$ Revenue and Copper Pounds Sold

* After processing costs

Altiplano has generated over US$14.2 million from the recovery and sale (after processing costs) of more than 6.25 million pounds of copper with an average grade of 1.8% Cu (2018 Q1-2023 Q4). Cash flow has been re-invested into equipment, underground drilling, expanding underground development at Farellon, enhancing ventilation to increase productivity and capacity, new underground development and exploration, and the start-up of the El Peñón fit-for-purpose mill and flotation plant located 15 km from the Farellon site.