Orla Mining reported that on July 23, an uncontrolled material movement event occurred on the temporary north wall within the open pit at its Camino Rojo oxide mine in Zacatecas, Mexico.
While there were no injuries or any damage to equipment or the environment reported, open pit mining operations are temporarily suspended while the miner conducts necessary geotechnical assessments to ensure safe remediation. Assessments are being conducted by both the miner’s internal team and third-party consultants.
Initial estimates indicate that approximately 390,000 tonnes of material moved from the north wall into the pit. It is expected that this material would be crushed and stacked on the heap leach pad in the medium term. Furthermore, Orla said it would continue crushing and stacking run-of-mine ore and stockpile material on the heap leach pad as well until in-pit mining resumed. This strategy is expected to mitigate the short-term impact on production.
Camino Rojo’s current stockpile is estimated at 2,243,000 tonnes with an average gold grade of 0.32 g/t.
Source: Orla Mining