Gold producer Hummingbird Resources (HUM) has announced the start of the hot commissioning phase at the Kouroussa gold mine in Guinea, which is expected to lead to the first gold pour this quarter.

The initial phase of testing, which involved evaluating the mechanical, electrical, and overall functionality of the processing plant, has been successfully completed according to the predetermined design specifications. Consequently, the hot commissioning phase is now ready to be initiated. On 20th May 2023, the first ore was introduced into the Kouroussa plant, which has an annual processing capacity of one million tonnes. 

Dan Betts, CEO of Hummingbird, commented: "The commissioning phase of the Kouroussa mine is performing well and reached another important milestone with the commencement of the hot commissioning phase, ahead of the first gold pour. While commissioning of the plant continues and nears its final stages, our operations team is preparing Kouroussa to become fully operational with the intention to reach commercial and name plate production in the second half of 2023."

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The news marks further progress for Hummingbird at the exciting Kouroussa project, which boasts a current reserve of 647,000 oz at 4.15 g/t. The mine is estimated to produce 120,000-140,000 oz for the first 3 years of production and average 100,000 oz over its initial life of mine (LOM). 

Underpinned by a $17.1m fundraise completed in March, further exploratory drilling is taking place at Kouroussa with potential LOM upside expected in H2. Hummingbird expects the exploration to push it past 200,000 oz of gold production at the project. Hu

Elsewhere, Hummingbird’s main producing asset at Yanfolila in Milan continues to perform well. In Q1 2023, gold production amounted to 27,262 ounces, compared to 28,264 ounces in Q4 2022 and 15,548 ounces in Q1 2022, while the all-in sustaining cost (AISC) for Q1 2023 was US$1,109 per ounce, an improvement of 11% from Q4 2022 (US$1,248 per ounce) and 50% from Q1 2022 (US$2,235 per ounce). 

The Company sold 26,380 ounces of gold in Q1 2023 at an average realized price of US$1,878 per ounce. In Q4 2022, 27,860 ounces were sold at an average realized price of US$1,726 per ounce. As of March 31, 2023, the Company held 2,810 ounces of gold inventory valued at approximately US$5.6 million.

You can watch a full operational update by CEO Dan Betts here and follow the company on Vox Markets to keep up with developments at Kouroussa.